


X3: The Ace Of Spades

by BlackWodin48 (DarkWingsDarkWords48)



Category: X-Men (Movies), X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - X-Men, F/M, Pre - X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-13
Updated: 2014-07-25
Packaged: 2017-12-11 18:03:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 45,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/801556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkWingsDarkWords48/pseuds/BlackWodin48
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The surprise visit of a certain Cajun could change the lives of the X-men. What could have happened if our favorite thief came to the mansion before the events of X3 - AU. ROMY</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Atrocity

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: X-men is owned by Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox. I do not own X-men, nor am I making a profit from this work of fan-fiction. So please don't sue me! Not that you'd get a whole lot from me anyway. ;)
> 
> A/N: This is my first X-men fanfic (not my first fic in general). I wanted to put together a story of what could have happened if Remy LeBeau entered onto the scene before the events of X3: The Last Stand. I'll be introducing several other comic characters that weren't in the movies as well, and several plotlines from the comics. Their histories may be different and events might occur different than in the comics as I will be taking artistic license and converting them to the movie-verse, but nods to comic fans will be found throughout the story.
> 
> Rated mainly for violence and language.

_The first things he heard were the screams._

_They echoed through the air as he ran down the tunnel. Each scream was filled with raw agony and fear. The next thing he heard was the loud crack of gunshots._

_He growled to himself and pushed himself to run faster. As he got nearer, the gunshots became louder, and the screams fewer. He spun around a corner and immediately dove to the side to avoid a burst of fire from a weapon. As he tumbled back into a crouched position, he pulled a small metal staff out of his coat, and twisted it, causing it to telescope into a long staff._

_The staff lashed out, sending the assault rifle – an M16, he noted – flying from the man's hands, and then lashed back viciously to slam into the man's head, snapping it to the side and knocking the man out instantly._

_He saw the gunner was dressed in some sort of ballistics vest, and armed to the teeth with various weapons. He dove past the body and brought his staff down on top of the next mercenary's head, and heard a loud, meaty crack before the man fell to the floor._

_When he saw what was in front of the man his jaw clenched and his eyelids fluttered shut briefly in grief, and when they opened again, his eyes had begun to glow magenta. He sprang forward in a rage, sprinting toward the next pair of mercenaries, running past what he had seen: an elderly white-haired woman clutching four children to her – all five riddled with bullets._

_The next two went down nearly as quickly, but he had to dive out of the way when several more saw their fellow mercenaries fall and opened fire at him. He gripped his staff and vaulted himself above the spray of bullets – barely clearing the low ceiling – and landed between two mercenaries, immediately lashing out with his leg pistoning in a side kick into one, while slamming the end of his staff into the face of the other mercenary._

_He traded blows with the mercenary he had kicked, taking him out with a swift roundhouse kick. He turned to the other man, only to see him stumbling to the ground, his hands coming away from his mouth covered in blood and teeth._

_He saw more mercenaries further down the tunnel, and turned down a passage leading to a smaller tunnel. He only ran into one other man, standing over the body of a pretty young girl with hair streaked with pastel colors. He struck him from behind, snapping his neck with a blow from his staff. He stopped only to kneel next to the girl and close her eyes._

_He tightened his grip around his staff when he heard a familiar sadistic laugh echo down the tunnel._

" _Zdravko." He growled to himself. The man who he had been hired to lead to these tunnels, which had once been a network of Cold War bomb shelters beneath Manhattan, and then forgotten by most. Only one accessible entrance still remained._

_He finally reached the end of the tunnel he was following, where it expanded into one of the many large chambers that had been designed as a military style living quarters._

_He immediately spotted Zdravko in the room – not that he was that hard to miss, all 6'7" of him – taunting a young girl with a large knife, a sadistic grin on his face. He dwarfed the girl, the Bulgarian mercenary was an enormous man, not just in height but also in muscle – he had very likely once been a bodybuilder._

" _ZDRAVKO!" He shouted, drawing the man's attention away from the girl._

_Zdravko's head snapped up at the voice and his mad grin became even broader. "How nice of you to join me. Come to help us exterminate these mutant scum?"_

_He growled in anger, stalking toward the towering mercenary. "You sick_ fils de pute _! If I'd known dis is what you were gon' do I'da killed you myself when I firs' met you."_

_The mercenary started laughing deeply. "Boy, you really are clueless. If you'd known who you were really workin' for, you'd have known we were lookin' for this group of muties to exterminate. He really did fool you into thinking we were heading in on a big heist through these tunnels to one of the banks above us, didn't he?"_

_He lunged at the mercenary, his staff whistling through the air. Zdravko blocked the blow with his forearm, and then in one move he grabbed the staff and used it to slam him into the wall._

" _Well, I must say that I am thankful for you leading us here. Why, there has to be at least a hundred of freaks, like this little whore, living down in these tunnels, cowering in fear under the eyes of their betters – humans like us. These muties are an infestation. A festering infection." Zdravko taunted, gesturing toward the young girl he had been tormenting. "Too bad for you that you're too late – we're just moppin' up the last few right now."_

_He picked himself up, brushing off his coat before looking coldly at Zdravko, and pulling a playing card from his trench coat pocket. Zdravko looked at him condescendingly, until he saw his eyes begin to glow brightly._

_Zdravko fumbled frantically for his gun, and he nearly laughed at the large man's panicked look. "Y-You're a freak too!"_

_He smiled coldly as the card in his hand began to glow the same color as his eyes. "Guess I wasn' de only one dat got fooled." He said as the card flew from his gloved hand and exploded in Zdravko's face, sending him staggering back, groping blindly at his eyes. Two more cards threw him into a wall and sent him into unconsciousness, but not before he managed to bring up his semi-automatic Walther pistol and fire blindly._

_He grunted as he felt several bullets slam into his body armor, and then hissed out a curse when he felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder. He glanced down and saw that a bullet had torn through the lighter, flexible ballistics suit between the chest and arm plates, which was there to allow him a great degree of movement._

_He saw some blood in the wound, but the ballistics material had slowed the bullet greatly, leaving the close to half the bullet above the surface of his skin. He gritted his teeth and yanked the bullet out. He pushed down his pain and tore off a strip of cloth from the bottom of his trench coat and wrapped it tightly around his shoulder to try to stop the bleeding._

_He walked over to the shaking girl who was huddled on the floor with her arms thrown protectively over her head. He knelt next to her and gently pulled her arms away from her head. She flinched and looked up at him, realizing that he was not Zdravko. She looked at him with pleading, tear-filled brown eyes. "P-please m-mister, d-don't hurt me."_

_He smiled gently at her. "I ain' gonna hurt you_ petite. _Did he hurt you at all?" He asked, looking down at her. She was young – no more than ten years old – and was a cute little girl, not marred even with several bony growths that protruded out of her forehead and cheekbones. He realized there were larger sharp and spiky bone protrusions growing along her arms and on her knees, as well as flat bones on her shoulders – almost like protective shoulder pads._

_She shook her head profusely, causing her hair, which held a purplish tinge, to whip around her face. "No, but I twisted my foot, and it hurts a lot."_

" _Okay,_ petite _," he said, feeling her ankle for any obvious broken bones. "Don' t'ink it's broken."_

" _What's your name?" He asked her._

" _I-I'm Sarah." She said shyly._

" _Okay, Sarah, de name's Remy, an' I'm gonna get you outta here. You know if anyone else is alive?"_

_She began to sob after he asked that. She shook her head. "I-I don't know. Those men started killing ev'ryone a-an' Sally told me to run with her, an' we both ran an' went down diff'rent tunnels, an' that big man chased after me an' caught me."_

_Remy pulled her close, careful to not poke himself on the bones growing out of her arms. He gently rubbed the back of her head, and rocked her back and forth like his Tante had used to rock him when he was upset._

" _It'll be alright,_ ma mignonne, _I won' let dem hurt you. Now come, we got to get outta here b'fore the rest come looking."_

_As he said that, a walkie-talkie on Zdravko's belt crackled to life. "Sir, we're almost done down here. I think we've got everyone. There may be one that got away – one of the men said he saw a blond girl running out of the tunnels, but his bullets bounced off of her, and she slipped away."_

_Sarah's sobs slowed, and she looked up at Remy. "That's Sally," she said._

_Remy nodded, and shrunk his staff down to its smallest size and placed it in his trench coat pocket. "I'm sure she'll be fine if she got away from dem. Alright_ petite _, hold on t'me, and we'll get outta here. What say we leave a little present for dem?"_

_She nodded, although she looked confused as to what he meant, as she carefully wrapped her arms around his neck before he lifted her from the ground._

_He shifted her weight onto his left arm, so he could reach into his pocket and pull out several decks of playing cards. He held on to one and handed the other three to her. "Can you hold these for me for a minute,_ petite _?"_

_She nodded and pulled one arm away from his neck to grab on to the packs of cards. She watched in wonder as the deck in his hand began to glow. He tossed the deck over his shoulder and sprinted down the tunnel. It hit Zdravko with a deafening boom, all but vaporizing his body._

_Sarah looked back at him, realizing the large man was likely now dead, but said nothing about that, as she felt strangely glad and relieved. Instead, when he took the remaining packs of cards from her, she looked up at his face. "You have very pretty eyes, Remy." She said when she noticed that his eyes were completely black with vibrant red pupils._

_Remy grinned down at her. "Dat ain' somethin' I hear a lot. Dey usually tell me I got de eyes of de devil."_

_She shook her head, smiling back up at him. "Well then they're dummies, 'cuz I like your eyes."_

" _Well den, I'll take your word for it, but dey aren' near as pretty as your eyes are." He said, setting her down for a moment. He gripped two of the packs of cards and hurled them down the tunnel at the ceiling. They exploded violently, causing large chunks of rubble to fall from the ceiling, and soon bury the passageway._

" _Well, now dey'll have t'work to get outta dis place." He said, picking her up again, and exiting out of the tunnels, leaving the third glowing deck of cards to blast open the entrance, hoping the noise and damage would bring the police to the site before the mercenaries dug their way out._

_Suddenly everything in his vision shifted, and he found himself lying on his back with the breath knocked out of him. All he saw was a bright light, and he could hear Sarah's voice dimly. "Remy! Remy! Remy!"…._

* * *

His eyes snapped open as he gasped for a breath, realizing he had just had another dream of what had happened over a week ago. He groaned when he realized Sarah had jumped on top of him while he was asleep, knocking the breath from him, and now she was sitting on his stomach, shaking his shoulder and calling his name.

He moved slightly, and reached up to rub the sleep from his eyes. "Alright, alright, _petite_ , I'm awake. You can stop tryin' t'murder me."

Sarah giggled, and clambered off of his stomach, looking at him with a bright smile. "C'mon, sleepyhead. It's already almost noon, an' you said you'd make me some chicken an' jambalaya for lunch today."

Remy sighed to himself, and sat up in the bed with a large yawn. "I'll bet Henri put you up to dis, didn' he?"

She smiled innocently at him. "Oh, Uncle Henri said to wake you up, but he didn't say how I should do it."

Remy chuckled, and tousled her hair. "Alright Sarah, you go on to th'kitchen, an' I'll get dressed an' meet y'there in a few, 'kay?"

Sarah hopped up and dashed happily from the room, pausing at the door to say, "Just don't go back to sleep like you did last time, or I'll hafta hop on you again."

Remy watched her go with a smile, then got out of bed and began dressing. He was glad she was so full of energy and happiness after what had happened last week. She was a great example of the resiliency children were capable of. He grunted as he pulled on a shirt, feeling the stitches in his shoulder pull at his skin.

He'd gotten out of the city as quick as possible, and made his way to northern Louisiana where his brother Henri had a vacation house – he couldn't go to New Orleans (or even to the northern parts of Lake Pontchartrain) due to the events of several years ago, unless he wanted to end up dead. Henri had gotten him patched up, and had taken Sarah for a day to his Tante Mattie to look at her ankle. It ended up being nothing more than a painful sprain, and she was already running around the house on it the next day.

The aftermath of the event in the tunnels in New York had been all over the news for the last week. The media was labeling it "The Mutant Massacre". Police had arrived on the scene within fifteen minutes when residents in the area reported explosions and a fire that had started.

His exploding decks had done more damage than he thought they would, and ended up caving in a long portion of the entrance. It took two days for the city to dig out the tunnel, and would have taken longer if the mercenaries hadn't been digging from the opposite side.

The mercenaries that hadn't been under the collapse were quickly arrested once the bullet-ridden bodies of more than sixty mutants were found. The mercenaries refused to give any information on their employer, and only stated their hatred of mutants as reasoning for what they had done. The city of New York was quite pro-mutant, especially in their laws, so the mercenaries were all going to be charged with murder – something that might not be the case in a more anti-mutant city.

Many radical groups on both sides had latched on to this issue – mutant terrorist groups using it to gain more recruits, and fundamentalist anti-mutant religious groups were calling it a "sign" from God.

Remy shook his head of his thoughts, still feeling the enormous weight of guilt for being the one to lead the mercenaries to those tunnels. He left his room, and made his way to the kitchen, where Sarah sat impatiently at the table, talking to his brother, Henri.

Henri wasn't his biological brother, something obvious in their completely different appearances. Henri was in his thirties and his light brown hair was already thinning, and he already had a bald spot developing, and he had a large bushy moustache. He was taller and outweighed Remy by nearly seventy pounds, although most of that bulk was muscle. Remy was already a respectable 6'1", and was much more lithe, partly because much of his childhood had been spent malnourished on the streets before Jean-Luc, Henri's father, had found him and eventually adopted him.

Henri looked up with a large grin as Remy entered the kitchen. "Finally up? Y' know it's not even Saturday, an' here y' are sleepin' in 'till noon. Have a nice wakeup?"

Remy rolled his eyes and grumbled. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just you wait – I'll get Sarah t'kill **you** in your sleep an' we'll see how you like dat." He muttered as he walked over to the refrigerator to start getting out the ingredients he needed to make lunch.

Within minutes he had the chicken cooking, and a pot of water on the stove coming to a boil to cook the rice. He shuffled over to the table and sat down next to Sarah. He looked over to Henri who was reading a newspaper. "So what the news be?"

Henri looked up and lifted the paper so that he could see the front page. "Same ol' same ol'." He said, and Remy saw why he didn't expand on that in front of Sarah – on the front page was yet another story on the killings in New York. They had agreed not to bring it up in front of her, and to only talk bout it if she brought it up to them.

Remy nodded and then looked over to Sarah who was reading the comics section of the paper. He frowned and reached out to touch the sleeve of the shirt she was wearing. The bone growths on her arms were quite sharp, and they had torn up the sleeve of her shirt when she put it on.

" _Petite_ , you got to be more careful when you put y'shirt on. Dat's the third one dis week you ripped." He said to her. He immediately regretted it when her bright expression dimmed and her eyes lowered down to her lap and she looked as if she was about to cry.

"Sorry Remy," she said quietly.

He scooted his chair closer and rubbed her back. "Sorry, Sarah, I ain' tryin' to be mean to you. I know you can't control dem. Jus' be a bit more careful when you slide your shirts on, 'kay?"

He felt even worse when he saw tears fall down her cheeks, and she jumped onto his lap and hugged him tightly. "I w-wish I could control them, Remy," she said as she sobbed into his shirt, "I'm tired of people staring at me an' saying mean things to me. My daddy hated me b'cause of them an' threw me out of the house, an' then Sally found me an' they let me stay with everyone else who looked different."

He hugged her tightly, ignoring the bones on her face poking sharply at his chest. She'd never really talked about how she had ended up in the tunnels until now. "I just want t'control them so I don't look like a freak anymore."

Remy pulled back and placed his hands on her shoulders. "You don' look like a freak, _petite_. You're a very pretty little girl, an' your bones don' change dat. _Comprends tu?_ "

She nodded and sniffled once more and then wiped her eyes. She believed that **_he_** thought she was pretty, but still couldn't believe it herself. She glanced up at him, his question in French reminding her something.

"Remy, can you teach me some more French today?" She asked him.

Remy smiled down at her. "Sure, _petite_." His face became troubled as he worked up his nerve to announce something he had decided. "But Henri'll have t' teach you after dat, 'cuz I'm leaving t'morrow…"

He was cut off when Sarah's head snapped up and he saw her lower lip trembling. "You're leaving? Why, Remy? Is it 'cuz of me? Are you coming back?" She asked in a rush.

" _Non_ , it ain' 'cuz of you – well, it actually sorta is." He corrected himself, continuing on quickly. "I'm going t'visit a friend of mine. She works at a school for mutants, an' I wanna check it out an' see what its like. If I like it, an' it looks safe, I'll take you to go dere. De Professor dere might be able t'help you control your bones like you want to be able to."

"Really?" Sarah asked him, a smile now back on her face.

He nodded to her, and then Henri spoke up. "Is dat the femme y' helped out a year or two ago?"

Remy nodded. "Oui. She told me I can visit if'n I ever need any help. So I'll see how it is an' hopefully Sarah can go dere."

"How long will you be gone?" Sarah asked him.

"Maybe a week. Don' know yet. But I'll call y' ev'ry night an' let you know how I'm doing."

He lifted Sarah from his lap and set her back down on her chair so he could check on the food. Henri followed him and gripped his shoulder and whispered quietly to him. "Y' be careful, alright? Dey might be lookin' for y' if'n any of dem men talked to their lawyers 'bout y' an' 'bout what happened. If'n y' employer knows what happened, he'll be out f'blood."

Remy nodded grimly. "I know. I'll be careful. But…. if somet'ing does happen t'me, you take care of Sarah f'me, _d'accord_?"

" _Oui_. Y' just make sure dat don' happen." Henry replied.

* * *

Jubilation Lee – better known by all her friends as Jubilee – shook her head and looked over at her friend, Rogue, as another news report played over the television about the recent Mutant Massacre in New York. "I can't believe there are people out there that would do something like this just because we are mutants."

Rogue looked up from the homework she was working on for Ororo's class. "Ah know – it's sick. But it ain't really new – look at World War Two an' the Nazis, or after World War One with th'Armenian genocide. There's just…."

She trailed off and perked up from her place on the couch. "Did ya hear that?" She asked, listening intently.

Jubilee shook her head and glanced at the television, assuming a news story had caught Rogue's attention, but it had gone to a commercial break.

Rogue set her books on the couch beside her and jumped to her feet. "Logan's back – Ah heard his motorcycle." She said, and sprinted out of the room.

Logan, also known as Wolverine, shut down his motorcycle and opened the door to the garage. He was nearly thrown off balance when the door was opened from the inside. He looked up and saw Rogue standing there in the doorway, and she greeted him with a hug.

"Logan! You're back! Are you planning t'stay here for a while?"

He stepped inside and shrugged. "Not plannin' on leavin' anytime soon. I did what I needed to do. Getting over… what happened at Alkali."

He walked next to her on her way to the kitchen. "So, how are you an' Drake?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rogue frowned slightly. "Ah don't know, Logan. He's been…. distant. Ever since Ah kissed him at his parent's house and started absorbin' him, he's been afraid ta even touch me with mah gloves on. Not that Ah blame him," she said, as she lowered her head.

"Don't worry Rogue, he's prob'ly just a little spooked. I'm sure he'll come around – at least he will if he doesn't want to lose you."

"That's just it, Ah think he might have a crush on Kitty. Ah've seen him flirtin' with her a few times, an' Ah know she likes him. Ah'm just afraid he wants a girl he c'n touch without worryin' about her suckin' the life outta him, and he's gonna leave me."

Logan threw an arm over her shoulder. "Well he'd be a fool t'toss ya away like that, an' I don't think he's that dumb. If he does then ya deserve better than him." Rogue smiled gratefully at him, but didn't seem too assured.

"Now, I'm gonna cook up somethin' to eat. You want anything?" Logan asked her.

"Nah. Thanks, but Ah already ate 'bout an hour ago with Jubes. Ah've gotta get back an' finish up mah homework for t'morrow, or Ororo'll have mah head."

Logan grinned slightly. "Oh, I don't doubt that. I'll see ya later. Maybe we can work on some more exercises in the Danger Room tomorrow."

Rogue nodded happily over her shoulder to him. He'd been teaching her a lot of basic self defense before he had left to clear his head, so she'd be able to defend herself - something she'd been wanting because of the limits of her powers. "Sure. Ah'll see ya after mah classes t'morrow."

Logan looked after her fondly. She'd made a connection with him from the first time he'd seen her back in Canada, and he realized that he had begun to think of her as a daughter. He shook his head. ' _Iceboy better not hurt her, or he'll be dealing with me'._ He thought to himself.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending Notes: Hope you liked the chapter. I'll probably have an update schedule of about one chapter every two weeks or so, maybe more like three depending on my current work and school loads.
> 
> Now, I don't speak French, so I am relying on internet translators (and a Cajun-English "dictionary" I found on the web).
> 
>  
> 
> Some of the words from the chapter translated:
> 
> petite – little one (term of endearment)
> 
> ma mignonne – sweetie (literally - my sweet)
> 
> Comprends tu? – Do you understand?
> 
> D'accord? – Okay?
> 
> Non – No
> 
> fils de pute – Son of a Bitch
> 
> Please, Read and Review.


	2. Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: X-men is owned by Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox. I do not own X-men, nor am I making a profit from this work of fan-fiction. So please don't sue me! Not that you'd get a whole lot from me anyway. ;)
> 
> A/N: Slightly early release because I had a bit more time to write this week. Remy comes to the Mansion this chap. Please, Read and Review.

Logan tore his adamantium claws through the chest of a soldier, and crouched under the fire of another, before springing out of his crouch into a leap at that man, first slicing the barrel off his gun, and then stabbing the soldier in the chest.

He panted lightly and then grinned as ten more soldiers ran into the room with their guns raised. He leapt at the nearest ones with his metal claws raised for killing blows, when suddenly they fizzled out of existence.

Logan growled with frustration and retracted his claws back into his knuckles, the skin they had sliced open to burst forth closing up and healing in seconds due to his healing factor.

He stalked out of the Danger Room, and was met by Ororo, a regal young black woman with shockingly white hair – known by many at Xavier's school as Storm – who had shut down his Danger Room simulation. "What'd ya do that for, 'Ro? I was just gettin' started with that sim."

Ororo smiled at him apologetically. "Sorry, Logan. The professor needs my help for the next hour or so, and I was hoping you could fill in for me for my Physical Education class with the younger kids."

"Why can't Scott do it? Or the elf?" Logan asked.

"Scott… he's in one of his moods again. And Kurt is in New York City meeting with someone for the Professor. Please, Logan, just an hour. You know all the younger kids love it when you teach them."

He sighed. This was the third class this week he'd had to substitute while Scott Summers – known as Cyclops – grieved in his room. He'd taken the death of Jean Grey, who he had been in a long-term relationship with, quite hard. It had been nearly as hard for Logan who had loved Jean as well, but where Logan coped physical activity – including the fighting session he had been working on – Scott coped by moping around in his room.

"Alright, 'Ro, but just this one class."

Ororo smiled gratefully. "Thanks Logan. The kids are waiting by the door to the grounds."

Logan grabbed a towel from one of the locker rooms by the Danger Room to wipe off the small amount of sweat he had worked up in the session. He walked swiftly up the stairs to the ground floor level.

Ororo's class of younger kids consisted of young mutants between the ages of around 8 years old and 14 years old. As a result of the wait, they were already teeming with energy.

By the time he entered the main hall, several were already in the process of getting into trouble. "Rahne, change back and stop running around the mansion with Marie – you're going to end up breaking something or getting claw marks in the floors." He said to a small wolf, who quickly morphed back into a red-headed teen who had been chasing around her friend who had tiger-like features complete with a tail.

He turned quickly to see a blond-haired teen holding a glowing orb in her hand. "Tabitha, don't even think about blowing that up in here, or you'll have ten laps around the grounds."

Once they had calmed down, the group of children crowded around him with excited expressions on their faces. Besides the three that he had scolded, there were twelve more, each with their own unique powers that they had come to Xavier's Academy for Gifted Youngsters to learn to control.

The newest addition to Ororo's class was a young blond haired girl who Kurt – known by many as Nightcrawler – had found with the direction of Xavier after the Massacre. Her name was Sally Blevins, and she had apparently escaped the killing of the mutant community in the Tunnels.

Xavier had been counseling her over the past few days, but she was still just as quiet and un-talkative as she had been when she arrived – something Xavier believed was due to what she had witnessed. She had escaped only because her mutant power, the ability to create a force-field to envelop her entire body, had protected her from the mercenaries.

"Alright you little runts, Storm wants me ta get some exercise outta you. So, how about some pushups and then a few laps around the yard?" He asked them, resulting in load groans from each student.

"No? Well then, how 'bout we play some basketball?" He asked, and was answered by a chorus of cheers from the students."

 

* * *

Logan sighed with relief as the last of the students filed into the door of the mansion. They had played several games, including one that allowed the use of their powers, something that they had begged for the first few games.

Logan made a mental note that he needed to get some new basketballs to replace the ones that had been inevitably blown up, ripped up, and launched into the woods surrounding the mansion during that game. He was glad to see that the last game had tired out even the most energetic of the group.

Ororo was waiting outside at the door as he let the students enter. "Hey, Logan, how was the class? Did they behave themselves?" She asked as the students went straight to the kitchen to get something to drink.

"Went fine. They shouldn' be little balls of energy for the rest of the day. Took a while for them to behave, though, an' they destroyed a few basketballs."

Ororo smiled gratefully at him. "Well, thanks for taking over for me."

Logan shrugged, but she saw a hint of a smile on his face. "Sure thing, 'Ro. I'm fine with the little ones. Just don't try t'get me for the teen classes – too much drama."

Ororo grinned. "I'll remember that when I need your help again. I talked to Charles, and he is going to look into hiring someone to fill in for classes. He thinks Scott might be like this for a long time – he's really having trouble dealing. But anyway – how was Sally?"

Logan lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "She did pretty good actually. Seems like she an' Rahne are startin' to become friends. She-"

He cut off in mid-sentence and turned his head to the side and sniffed the air. Ororo jumped in surprise as the adamantium coated claws of his right hand sprang out.

He looked at her with an intense expression. "We have any new visitors here today?"

Ororo shook her head. "No, not that I know of. Is someone…?"

Logan nodded once. "Someone's on the grounds an' they got past the security systems without anyone seein' 'em."

He turned to her. "Get the kids someplace safe - this guy is upstairs and then get up there. I'll tell Charles while I head up to see to our little visitor."

She hurried to follow the children and announced that they were going to skip their next class and were to follow her to the garage. ' _Good choice'_ , Logan thought as he made his way toward the stairs that led from the ground floor to the first floor – the dormitories were on the opposite side of the mansion from where their intruder was, and there was easy access to the escape tunnels in case things got too rowdy.

Logan pulled his communicator from his pocket and clicked it on. "Hey Charles, we got an intruder somewhere on the grounds. Can ya get me any read on this guy? _'_ " He said as he brought the communicator up to his mouth.

Charles' voice echoed over the speaker moments later. _"_ Logan. I can get very little on our visitor – he seems to have some sort of mental shield or energy disruption up around his mind, and it dampened his thoughts enough that I never sensed him entering the mansion - there is no doubt he is a mutant. He's somewhere on the third floor."

Logan growled and said, "I'll take care of it," before he started up the stairs.

 

* * *

Rogue strode angrily along the third floor corridor toward her room. She'd just stormed away from Bobby after they'd had a fight. She'd finally talked him into spending some time alone with her out on the grounds – they hadn't spent much time together the last few weeks and despite the pep talk from Logan, she felt she was drifting even further from him.

As they were walking toward the door to the grounds, Kitty walked past them and into the kitchen. Bobby then remembered he had been waiting for her to get out of class to ask her for some help with homework. Kitty was a veritable computer whiz, so most in their computer class inevitably came to her for help.

The spat that followed ended with Rogue leaving. It still echoed through her mind.

_"Some boyfriend," she said angrily, "ya'd rather spend time with other girls than with ya own girlfriend."_

_That stopped Bobby cold and he was slow in trying to follow after her as she walked away. She saw his movement from the corner of her eye and spun around and waved her hand to silence him. "Whatevah, Bobby, jus' leave me alone an' go "study" with Kitty," she said sarcastically._

_"Fine! I will!" He said and whirled around toward the kitchen doorway._

Rogue felt a tear trickle run down her face and she angrily swiped it away wither her gloved hand.

Her troubled thoughts were interrupted as she passed the door to Storm's room and heard the crashing sound of glass breaking, and a low muffled curse. She knew Storm was not in there as she'd passed her on the main level after the fight. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized it had been a male's voice.

Her mind whirled through what she should do. Her body settled on action, and before she realized it she had removed her gloves and moved toward the door. _'If it isn't anyone I know I'll drain him unconscious and get the Professor,'_ she thought. _'I'd never hear the end of it if I went running for help – Bobby'd get proven right that I'm nothing but a liability with my power'._

She threw the door open. At the other end of the room there was a dark haired young man. The back of his trench coat was still hanging over the edge of the open window that he had climbed through, and he was kneeling next to a vase that lay shattered on the floor.

His head snapped up toward the door as she entered, and his surprise was obvious even with his eyes obscured by a dark pair of sunglasses.

"What th' hell are ya doin' in here?" Rogue demanded, letting her leftover anger at Bobby fill her voice.

He set down the shards he had been gathering and stood up. " _Bonjour, jolie femme_ ," he said in smooth French. "I'm jus' here t'visit a friend."

"How'd ya get past the security system?"

The man grinned and his eyebrows shot up over the rims of his sunglasses. "Security system? Dat's what dat t'ing was? _Mon Dieu_ , I cracked dat wit' my eyes closed."

She clenched her fists, and the man raised his hands. "Whoa dere, I don' wanna fight wit' you, petit. I'm jus' here f'some help." He said.

He shifted one foot back toward the window, and accidentally stepped on a piece of the broken vase, which forced him to jerk his body forward to catch his balance.

The only thing Rogue saw was that it looked like he was going to attack her, so she struck out first. She lashed her right leg out at him in a low kick, which he managed to block with the hand he had thrown forward to keep his balance. He raised his hands again and was about to say something before her fist slammed into his stomach.

That had been one of the first things Logan had taught her – " _Your opponent will be a lot more focused on the pain or getting his breath back if ya hit 'em in a vulnerable place. Even better if ya can get to the family jewels_ ".

As the young man doubled over and grunted in pain, she followed Logan's advice by continuing through to bring her knee to his groin, but he stumbled backward and her knee hit his forearm. Then he straightened and turned two of her kicks aside with quick hand blocks.

Rogue hid a grimace at the pain in her hand after the punch. ' _Either he's got some freakin' hard abs or he's wearing some sort of body armor_ ,' she thought.

She then feinted with a punch and snapped her foot out to sweep his legs from under him. He landed on his back with a grunt and she leapt onto him and reached out and placed her hand on his stubbled cheek.

Through his daze after his head smacked against the ground, Gambit felt a pull in his body and felt his energy begin to drain out of him through the girl's hand. His hands came up and he shoved her away from him, and he felt exhaustion rush over him as her hand broke contact with him.

He gritted his teeth in pain as he pushed himself off the ground. He saw her stagger back in a crouch and then stand up. Her hands had begun to glow a bright magenta and he realized she was looking at them in horror. She looked up at him with red-on-black eyes expressing terror as she felt energy surge through her in massive waves. "What is this?" She shrieked. "I-I can't control it!"

Another wave of energy passed through her mind, and she stumbled to the side, catching hold of the lampshade of Storm's table lamp. It flared brightly, and Gambit's eyes widened as she caught her balance and let go.

"Get down!" He shouted as he rammed into her, tackling her onto Storm's bed. The lamp exploded, and the pressure wave was strong enough to slam air into them in a violent burst as pieces of the lamp and the table below it pattered down on Gambit's back.

He looked down into the terrified girl's face. "Gimme your hands, _femme_!" He urged her as he groped for her wrists. "Let me take de charge from you – I c'n control it for you."

She frantically shoved her hands into his, fear still in her eyes. She watched in amazement as he grasped her hands and slowly the magenta glow began to fade from her own and into his own. He pulled his hands away and she saw the muscles in his jaw working as the aura began to fade from his own hands.

He let out his breath and relaxed as it disappeared. He managed a slight grin down at the girl he was currently straddling. " _Dieu_ , y'should be careful takin' powers from people y'don't know."

The adrenaline rush in Rogue began to die out and she shakily smiled back. "Thanks."

"Y'welcome. An' really I was tellin' de truth b'fore, I'm jus' here t'visit Stormy-"

His sentence was interrupted as the door that had been pushed close by the blast of air flew off its hinges and a tall man with a stocky build barreled through.

"Fuck." Gambit said when the man's face twisted in anger. He knew how this must look to the man – him straddling this young woman, pressing her to the bed.

He sprang off her to his feet and had his bo staff out and extended just in time as the man charged him with an enraged yell.

* * *

 

Logan had been near the second flight of stairs when his heightened hearing picked up Rogue's scream and the resulting explosion, and he dashed the rest of the way up realizing she had come into contact with the intruder.

His claws sprang from his fist as he charged the man who had pinned Rogue underneath him, and he slashed out at the man's bo staff which had seemingly appeared out of nowhere hoping that slicing it into pieces would make him think twice about fighting him.

Logan was caught off balance, however, when rather than slicing through it like butter, his claws merely bounced off the staff with a loud clang.

"Logan, stop! He wasn't doin' what you were thinkin'!" Rogue said – things were happening so quickly, both men moved almost too fast for her to follow. She knew then for sure that the mysterious mutant had merely been defending himself against her and had gone quite easy on her – had he moved like this before she wouldn't have lasted more than a few seconds.

"What the hell?" He said, not hearing Rogue in his rage and surprise – adamantium, which his claws (and entire skeleton) were coated with, was the hardest and strongest substance known to man, and his claws had always cut through any material he had come across.

Logan's claws slid along the staff and sliced through the metal footboard of Storm's bed. ' _Whole damn staff must be made of adamantium_ ,' he thought to himself, ' _how the hell did he get something like that_?' he wondered.

He began striking faster, managing to get in a solid punch to the side of the man's head, retracting his claws before it connected – he wanted to take this creep alive – and finally grabbed the staff itself and strained his muscles to use the staff to toss the man into the wall with a heavy thud.

"Logan, stop!" Rogue yelled as she pushed herself up from the bed, but he still didn't hear her as he extended his claws – two on either side of his neck and the middle slowly until its tip touched the man's throat.

The man smiled grimly at him. "I wouldn' be doin' dat, _homme_. If you hurt me, dere'll be trouble," he said, nodding downward slightly.

Logan looked down and saw that the man's staff was touching the floor, and that a purplish glow was radiating from the tip and along the floor, causing it too to glow.

"Y'see, dis whole floor is charged, an' if I die, dere's gonna be one big messy boom."

All three heard a gasp from the doorway and Logan looked out of the corner of his eye and saw Ororo entering the doorway of her room with Xavier outside behind her in his wheelchair.

She stepped further in. "Logan, let him go – he's a friend of mine." She looked over to the other man. "And Gambit, behave yourself!"

Logan hesitated until Rogue said, "Please Logan, he wasn't hurtin' me."

Logan lowered his hand from the man's neck and stepped back, slowly retracting his claws. He watched as the glow on the floor seemed to dim and then pull back and up through the tip of the staff and then to the man's fingers.

The man, Gambit, shrugged. "Sorry, Stormy," he said.

"If you'd just learn to use the front door like everyone else, you wouldn't have had that problem." She said sternly, although a grin broke out on her face, ruining the effect.

"Well, I thought I'd avoid de attention of a welcomin' committee if I didn' use de front door. Guess I learned my lesson from de _un_ welcomin' committee here," he said with a lopsided grin, nodding at Logan and Rogue.

Ororo laughed and closed the distance between them while he still stood leaning against the wall. "It's great to see you again, Remy." She whispered as she pulled him into a tight hug.

She grew concerned when he weakly returned it, and a soft groan of pain escaped his lips when she squeezed him tighter. She looked up into his face and saw that his mouth was set in a firm line, and she quickly realized that his breath was coming in ragged, shallow gasps.

She pulled him away from the wall, and he leaned heavily on her shoulder. "Gambit, what's wrong?" She asked him worriedly. "Are you hurt?"

He nodded tightly and staggered forward a bit, putting more weight on Ororo's shoulders. "Hmm, yeah, Stormy. I don' feel too good here. Dat chargin' an' fightin' with M'sieur Claws an' _une jolie_ dere took a lot outta me. I t'ink I'm gonna take a rest…" He murmured, before promptly passing out.

Logan moved forward quickly to help Ororo catch his weight, and helped her lift him over to her bed. Now that he wasn't focused on the man being an intruder, he caught another distinct scent from him.

He looked to Storm. "Think he's bleedin' somewhere, 'Ro. I can smell it." He said. "Also hasn't bathed for a few weeks from the smell of him. Sure he's a friend of yours?" He asked her jokingly when he saw the worry fill her eyes when he mentioned Gambit was bleeding, trying to get her mind off of it.

A weak smile flitted across her face. "Yes, Logan, he's my friend. We need to get him down to the Med lab and see how badly he's hurt. Help me lift him."

 

* * *

With Logan's help, Ororo moved Gambit down to the first sublevel and into the Med lab. Rogue followed the two close behind and Xavier wheeled his chair along behind them. Rogue wanted to help and felt terrible that she'd attacked Storm's friend apparently enough to injure him if Logan had smelled that he was bleeding, but she didn't know how to help other than carry Gambit's bo staff which she had picked up after he passed out.

A black-haired female in her early thirties, with a light olive complexion and brown eyes, looked up, startled by both their sudden entrance, and by the unconscious man they were carrying.

They set him down on an examination table as she stood up and rushed over. Ororo looked to the woman who she had befriended in her short time at the school. "Annie, this is a friend of mine. We think he's been injured and he just passed out a few minutes ago, and Logan thinks he smelled blood on him."

Annie nodded, looking down at the unfamiliar young man. Annie Ghazikhanian had been an ER nurse before she had been hired just shortly after Jean had been killed.

Her son, Carter Ghazikhanian, was a mutant with telekinetic powers, and she had brought him to Xavier to get him help controlling his powers. Xavier learned she was a nurse, and they had come to an agreement: Carter would receive free schooling if she worked at the school at least part time as a nurse for both the children and the team. She had quickly decided to stay at the school full time, despite her initial fear of mutants, which was quickly overpowered by her love for her son and her experience with the denizens of the mansion in her first few weeks. Xavier had given her one of the vacant rooms so she could live with her son.

Rogue set down the staff and helped Annie and Ororo remove Gambit's trench coat. Logan whistled loudly when he saw the body armor he was wearing. "Damn. That looks like some sorta custom made Modular Tactical Vest – damn tough stuff – military grade armor. Looks lighter than standard issue. Kid musta paid through the nose to get this."

His eyebrows hiked even higher and he pointed to a hole in the armor near the abdomen, which was slowly filling with blood. "Well double-damn! Hadta have been a top-quality sniper rifle he got shot by to be able t'penetrate it like this. Someone really wanted to take this kid out." He said to Ororo as she began running her hands along the armor and expertly undoing the hidden catches to get the armor off.

Annie cut the shirt that he was wearing underneath his armor down the center and along the sleeves to remove it easily without disturbing her patient. Storm pointed out another gunshot wound to his left shoulder, and what looked like another older wound that had been stitched up and was now nearly healed.

' _That could have happened any time in the past week or so_.' Storm thought to herself, remembering Remy's amazingly fast healing abilities that were linked somehow with his mutant powers. ' _Not anything close to Logan_ ,' she thought, ' _but absolutely remarkable for any other mutant_.'

Ororo shook her head. "What've you gotten yourself into this time, little brother?" She whispered softly as Annie inspected the wounds.

Annie looked up. "He patched himself up pretty well – used some QuikClot on his abdomen wound to stop the bleeding and tried stitching his shoulder wound. They both reopened recently – was he participating in any sort of strenuous physical activity today?"

Rogue looked down guiltily. "Ah thought he was a burglar an' thought he was gonna attack me an' Ah fought back." She saw the blood pooling even more – _'I went and punched him right there when I hit him in the stomach, and landed with my knees there when I went to absorb his powers,'_ she thought, feeling sick to her stomach as she realized she had been unknowingly striking him in an already injured part of his body where it would hurt the most.

Annie nodded, and looked to Ororo. "The bullets do not seem to have hit anything vital, and it looks like he removed the one in his shoulder. I'll have to remove the one here by his lower ribs, which could be a little tricky to get out."

Xavier, who had been silent until then, furrowed his brow for a moment and then looked up at Annie. "I've asked Miss Pryde to come down here. I've been working with her to fine-tune her powers, and I believe she has become skilled enough to be able to remove this bullet from our young friend here and keep the trauma to a minimum."

Annie smiled. "That would be excellent Charles. I'll see what I can do about making sure this shoulder wound is cleaned out while we wait."

Ororo stepped aside to allow her room to work, and walked to the other side of her friend. She brushed some hair from his face and stroked his forehead. His face looked tired, and yet peaceful at the same time. She saw that he had several days' growth of stubble on his face, accenting the roguish good looks that she had seen attract many a young woman – including herself for a short time.

Rogue watched Ororo brush the hair out of her friend's face, and realized Ororo cared deeply about him, but it seemed like a maternal or sisterly care rather than the care of a lover – something Rogue had wondered when Storm had first greeted Gambit.

' _Not that I would blame her,'_ Rogue thought, as her eyes traveled over Gambit's well-toned body, blushing slightly, ' _he's hot, in a frazzled, scruffy sort of way._ '

Ororo walked over to where Rogue had set Gambit's Bo staff, and expertly collapsed the staff. She had talked him into teaching her how to use it, or at least some basic moves and blocks with it. She lifted his discarded trench coat to slide the staff into the inner pocket he kept it in, and a slip of paper fluttered out onto the floor from one of his pockets.

She knelt to pick it up and looked at it. It was a reminder scrawled in Remy's handwriting that read: " ** _Call H. and S. tomorrow._** "

She guessed that "H." may have stood for his brother Henri, who she had met once, but she had no clue what the "S." could stand for except for "Stormy", a nickname he had given her and teased her mercilessly with in the weeks she had spent with him.

She folded the paper and slipped it back into its pocket, and in the process felt a large bundle of papers which she pulled out curiously. She suppressed a gasp and quickly shoved them back into the pocket – it had been a large bundle of hundred dollar bills.

' _You've got a lot of explaining to do, Remy_.' She thought to herself, wondering what job he had pulled off that had left him with a large wad of money and two fresh bullet wounds.

 

* * *

Katherine "Kitty" Pryde grumbled darkly to herself. She had been giving some homework help to Bobby Drake – also known as Iceman – when Professor Xavier had telepathically asked her to come to the Med lab.

The "help" involved a little bit of helping him with homework, and a large amount of flirting between the two. She had had a large crush on Bobby for over a year now, and she could tell that he liked her. She felt slightly guilty, as he was already dating one of her friends, Rogue, but she had seen their relationship deteriorate over the weeks after Jean's death, and she had noticed the growing amount of attention Bobby was now paying her. She wasn't entirely sure he even realized the shift in his attitude and behavior, and he seemed to still be quite overprotective of Rogue, even with the souring of their relationship.

She entered the Med lab, and saw Professor Xavier waiting for her. "Hello, Kitty," he greeted her with a smile, "We could use your help with something that your abilities may be of great use for us," he said, turning his wheelchair and moving toward the exam table.

Kitty saw Ororo, Logan, and the new nurse, Annie, standing beside an unconscious young man, examining a wound in the lower left portion of his abdomen. Kitty felt the pang of guilt return when she spotted Rogue standing near Annie, watching what she was doing.

Xavier wheeled around to that side and gestured for Kitty to join them. "Our young friend here has been wounded by a bullet, and I would like you to attempt to phase it out of him. I know we haven't worked intensively on phasing through organic substances yet, but I do not believe this will be very difficult for you."

Xavier had been working with her, helping her to learn to control her powers in more ways than just phasing herself through objects. They had worked first on her phasing objects that she held, and worked their way up to phasing through machines and learning to "feel" or "sense" the differences in composition of the different parts, and then on extending her phase field to that part only.

Kitty bit her lip nervously, and felt reassuring telepathic thoughts coming from Xavier. "Okay, I'll give it a try," she said, looking down at the young man. "Who is he?" She asked curiously.

"He's a good friend of mine. Do you remember a few years ago when I was gone for about five months?" Ororo asked. At Kitty's nod, she continued. "He helped me out of a rough place back then, and we became close friends."

Kitty nodded, and looked down at the man in front of her. ' _Damn_ ,' she thought, ' _this guy is cute. He can't even be that much older than me_.' She reached out to place her hand on the young man's abdomen near the wound.

Rogue looked on, and watched Kitty's bare hands move along Gambit's muscled abdomen. She felt a flash of jealousy, and she realized she wasn't entirely sure if it was from the fact that Kitty was able to touch people without worrying about sucking the life out of them, or if it was the fact that she was touching _this_ person in particular. She shook her head to clear it, trying not to remember the strange, animal attraction she had felt when he had straddled her stomach, her hands gripped in his, and his lopsided grin he'd flashed her.

Kitty took a deep breath and closed her eyes as her hand slowly began to phase through his body. Her brow furrowed as her hand went lower, and she bit her lip in concentration when she "felt" the metal of the bullet, and began to extend her field around it, careful to not phase out any of Ororo's friends' internal organs with it.

She lowered her hand down and past the table and solidified her hand and the bullet, letting out a deep sigh of relief as she dropped the bullet onto a tray near the exam table.

She ran her hand through several more times to pick out any small bits of shrapnel she had missed, until she could no longer sense any metal.

"I think that's all, Professor." She said.

"Thank you very much for your assistance, Kitty. I think that is all we needed. You may return to your studies now if you wish."

"Alright, Professor. Is he gonna be okay now?"

"He should be okay once we patch him up," Ororo said as she flashed Kitty a relieved smile and give her a grateful squeeze on the shoulder. "Thanks for helping him – he means a lot to me."

Kitty returned the smile. "You're welcome, Ororo. See you in class tomorrow." She said as she turned and left the lab.

Annie moved to the spot Kitty had vacated, and swabbed the wound with a Betadine disinfectant to kill any bacteria that had been introduced since the wound had re-opened. She looked up briefly at Rogue. "Hey, could you stitch that shoulder wound for me while I take care of this?"

Rogue looked at her uncertainly. "Really?" She asked. Rogue had become interested in medicine after the events at Alkali Lake – after Jean was gone – and had quickly developed a friendship with Annie, who had taken her under her wing and started teaching her basic medical care.

Annie smiled reassuringly at her. "Yes Rogue, you did a great job last week when Jamie cut his arm up messing around in the mansion."

Rogue smiled back hesitantly, and nodded her head. She shuffled through a drawer near the examination table until she found a small package containing a suture thread. She ripped open the cardboard backing and removed the atraumatic needle – an eyeless needle with the surgical thread already attached to cause less damage to tissues because of a slimmer body without the eye, and to save the person using it the time of threading the needle.

Annie had already disinfected the wound, so Rogue only had to suture it shut. She place her gloved fingers of one hand on the skin on either side of Gambit's wound and pressured the edges of the wound closer together as she pushed the needle through one edge and across to the other and pulled it tight. She carefully repeated the procedure to create a line of three stitches along the wound, using the common simple interrupted stitch method.

As she tied off the last knot, leaving it to the right of the wound so it didn't get into the wound as it healed, she snipped off the remaining suture thread and carried it and the packaging to the trash. She wrinkled her nose when she saw the fingers of her white gloves had been stained with his blood from holding the wound closed and tying the knots. _'Oh well, there goes another pair of gloves_ ,' she thought to herself.

Professor Charles Xavier pulled Rogue to the side once she had finished while Annie finished with Gambit's abdominal wound. He asked her what had occurred in Storm's room, and she explained what had happened including the loss of control over the powers she had absorbed.

"Hmm… Ororo, exactly what abilities does our young friend have?" Xavier said as Rogue finished her retelling.

"I'm not sure exactly what it is, but he can charge anything he touches with some sort of energy and make it explode when he lets go."

Xavier nodded thoughtfully. "Rogue, I think this may actually be helpful – I think that it is not just your own power that you struggle to control, but any touch-based power like Gambit's. We've been focusing so much on control of power in general, but not your touch in particular. I'll have to think on this before our next training session on Friday."

As Rogue looked back to the examination table, she saw that Annie had finished patching up Gambit's wound and had taped gauze down over it to prevent infection. Annie had just set up an IV and taped it down on his arm, and she was hooking up a bag of saline solution to provide fluids to him that he had lost through bleeding since he had been injured.

Annie turned to the four who stood back observing her. "Okay, that's all we can do now besides wait for him to wake up."

"Can I stay in here by him?" Storm asked.

Annie smiled. "Of course, Ororo," she said, and then turned to Rogue, "Rogue, why don't you come by later tonight and I'll show you how to change a saline drip." Her eyes twinkled mischievously. "That way I can get you to remember to do it for me."

"Alright, Annie, Ah'll see ya after dinner." Rogue replied.

Professor Xavier turned his wheelchair in the direction of the door. "Come now," he said to Rogue and Logan. "Let's leave Ororo some private time with her friend."

Rogue followed Logan and the Professor from the room, casting one last glance back at Ororo sitting next to her unconscious friend's side.

Rogue exited the room and made her way slowly up the stairs to the main level of the mansion and walked across the building to the staircase that led to the upper floors. She noticed several curious young teens peeking out of the kitchen at her, and she rolled her eyes in exasperation – Kitty had already been motoring her mouth about Storm's mysterious friend.

Rogue was almost to the stairs, in the process of tugging off one of her stained gloves, when Bobby saw her. "Rogue! Kitty says there's some unconscious dude down in the medlab, and she said you were down there – Rogue! Are you all right? Are you hurt? You're bleeding!" Bobby said when he saw her bloodstained gloves.

"Ah'm fine Bobby," Rogue said, "Ah'm not bleedin'. Ah helped patch up Storm's friend."

"Rogue, about before, I'm-" Bobby managed to say before Rogue cut him off.

"Please Bobby, why don't ya just leave me alone. Ah'm really not in the mood to talk to ya right now. Ah don't wanna get into another fight." Rogue said with a dismissive wave of her hand at Bobby. She saw Bobby flinch back slightly and she realized she had gestured with her ungloved hand. She felt hurt well up inside – she knew he probably didn't even realize it and it was an unconscious flinch, but it still hurt her when she was reminded that even her boyfriend couldn't touch her and in fact appeared to be afraid of even coming close to touching her.

Rogue turned away from him and strode quickly up the stairs, ignoring Bobby's protestations that carried up the stairs after her. She walked toward her own room for the second time that day, this time the well-ordered hallway was marred by the door to Storm's room which was open and hanging on only the bottom hinge as the other had been ripped away from the door frame when Logan burst into the room.

Rogue turned the doorknob of the door to her own room and pushed the door open. She moved over to her bed and sat heavily on it, and pulled her glove on her other hand off one finger at a time and then tossed both into the trash can that sat on the other side of the room next to her desk.

She tossed herself backwards, her head onto her pillow, and closed her eyes. Then she felt the tears begin to leak from under her eyelids and down her cheeks. She felt emotionally numb after her fight with Bobby and his reaction to her at the base of the stairs, and physically drained from her short, intense fight with Storm's friend.

As she felt sleep overtake her she wondered why, not for the first time, she'd ended up with one of the worst mutant abilities possible – one that prevented her from something that was a very human need and desire: physical contact.

 

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well, hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'm trying to keep pretty true to the movie personalities of everyone, so I hope I'm doing pretty decent. A little nod to the comic book fans with some of the kids in Logan's class, and with Annie – you'll recognize the characters if you've read them (Annie and some of the kids will be developed soon in the case of Annie and later on in the story in the case of some of the kids/teens).


	3. Awake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: X-men is owned by Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox. I do not own X-men, nor am I making a profit from this work of fan-fiction. So please don't sue me! Not that you'd get a whole lot from me anyway. ;)
> 
> Please, Read and Review. Hope you enjoy this Chap! Longest Chapter yet (without authors notes) at over 7600 words. This is probably as long as they'll get and they'll probably range between the length of this one and the first chapter – any longer and I think it tends to get hard to read and keep focused (at least in my experience)

**Chapter 3: Awake**

* * *

Robert "Bobby" Drake sat down with an aggravated sigh on a couch in the living room next to his friend Piotr Rasputin, a tall, muscled young man who had the ability to change his entire body into organic steel. Peter had just recently turned twenty, making him a few years older than many of the younger residents of the manor including Bobby himself. Piotr had been raised since the age of one in the United States when his parents moved there from their homeland of Russia.

Piotr looked up from the book he was reading and glanced over at his friend. "What's up, Bobby?" He asked.

"Rogue." Bobby said. "She keeps running off to the infirmary to help that Annie chick take care of that new guy instead of spending time with me. And she's the one who started a fight when I wanted to spend some time with Kitty and get some help with homework from her!" He said, throwing up his hands in exasperation. "I don't get her and her sudden interest in nursing either – she's never been interested in this before and she knows she'd be limited from actual medicine by her powers, so why now that this new nurse comes in?" Bobby clenched his fists in frustration and ice crystals began to appear on the skin of his hands before he realized he was unconsciously using his powers and closed his eyes with a sigh.

Piotr nodded knowingly. He'd seen the past three days were very strained between Bobby and Rogue, especially when word had spread around the school after a student overheard a discussion between Rogue and Storm that Rogue had actually fought with the man who was still unconscious in the Med lab.

"Bobby, you need to cool down a bit," Piotr said, and then grinned slightly. "No pun intended there."

Bobby rolled his eyes at his friends attempt to inject some humor into the discussion.

"Bobby, you should just give her a bit of time to settle down and get over your fight. It didn't help that she heard you talking to Kitty yesterday about her being impulsive when she confronted this 'Gambit' person, with her not really having any sort of offensive powers like the rest of us."

"I think right now a big part of the problem between you two is that you don't think before you open your mouth, Bobby. You know she hates being stuck with the power she has and you saying that just reinforced her belief that it isn't useful. And just now, you said something similar about her power – what if she was listening right now? And I really think that any girl would be pretty insulted if her boyfriend implied she was impulsive and wasn't strong enough to defend herself. As to her new interest in medicine, I think you should respect her interests and her choices, no matter how you feel about it." Peter said.

Bobby sighed and passed his hands over his face. "Damnit, you're right, Piotr. I really stuck my foot in deep this time, didn't I?"

Piotr nodded and patted him on his back sympathetically. "Yes, you really did. But don't worry, she'll get over it soon enough. Now, you can be a man and apologize to her – maybe tomorrow when she's calmed down a bit, or you can just keep fighting and break up bitterly. That is your choice, Bobby. If you do apologize to her, the best thing for you two would be for you to take her out to dinner somewhere or just take her out on the grounds for a picnic or something and show her that you're dedicated to making things work between the two of you."

A smile slowly grew on Bobby's face. "That's a great idea, Piotr! Thanks!" He paused and looked at his friend with a furrowed brow. "How is it you always have such good advice when it comes to stuff like this?"

Piotr laughed. "Well, besides the fact that I had some experience myself back in high school, remember I've got Illyana who has been dating since she turned fourteen so I've had quite a bit of experience in giving dating advice," he said, referring to his seventeen year old sister who lived back home while attending her last year of high school.

Bobby stood up, a smile now fully on his face. "Thanks Piotr, I've gotta do some thinking and figure out the perfect date for Rogue and me." He said with excitement now in his voice as he walked away.

Piotr looked back down to his book with a chuckle. He was quite able to admit to himself that all of his recent advice to Bobby to help him keep his relationship with Rogue together wasn't entirely a selfless assistance to a friend. He was also doing it because he had a crush on Kitty Pryde – the girl he realized that Bobby may turn to if his relationship with Rogue went south. ' _Now if only she would notice me instead of Bobby_ ,' Piotr thought wistfully.

* * *

Annie Ghazikhanian walked back down to the Medlab after dinner and stopped in the doorway when she saw Rogue was already inside the room. She could see a fresh bag of saline solution which meant Rogue had already changed it for the night.

Annie had connected very quickly with the young woman, seeing a bit of herself in her. Because of her power, most people were at best politely detached with her and few wanted to become close to her. Annie had experienced much of the same as she grew up. Her entire grade-school and high school years she'd been shunned as a "nerd". In college she'd gained more acceptance but even then the man who was Carter's father had abandoned her once he learned their time together had resulted in her pregnancy.

She watched Rogue remove the dressings from Gambit's wounds and replace them with fresh ones – his wounds were healing at an incredible rate, so Annie wanted to make sure his dressings were changed frequently to prevent infection from taking hold in the rapidly closing wounds, especially the deeper abdomen wound. She wasn't entirely sure why he had not regained consciousness, but her guess was that it likely involved his fast healing rate taking up a large portion of his energy.

The roll of gauze that Rogue was about to put away slipped from her fingers and onto the floor and she bent down to pick it up, and then jumped slightly when she saw Annie standing in the doorway and dropped it again. Annie smiled and walked into the room as Rogue blushed and retrieved the roll once more.

Rogue tossed the gauze into a trashcan after its fall onto the floor. "Hey Annie, how was supper?"

Annie rolled her eyes. "Well, it was just like any other supper when it's Logan's turn to take care of it – Little Caesar's pizza."

Rogue giggled. "Yeah, he's not much of a cook is he?"

"Nope," Annie said, and then looked more seriously at Rogue. "Despite Logan being the one who bought, I was surprised you weren't there. Are you feeling okay?"

Rogue shrugged her shoulders and sat down heavily on a wheeled chair next to Gambit's bed. "Yeah, Ah've just not really had much of an appetite lately."

"Bobby?" Annie asked, looking knowingly at Rogue's glum expression.

Rogue sighed. "Yeah. All we ever seem to do is fight with each other lately. Yesterday Ah heard him tellin' Kitty that Ah'm impulsive an' can't defend mahself because mah power is useless unlike ev'ryone else's around here."

Annie pulled another chair over and sat down next to her before placing a comforting arm across Rogue's shoulders. "Rogue, I don't know how you felt about Bobby back before I came here, but since you've started telling me about him and since I've seen you two interact, I have to say that it doesn't really seem like he's really dedicated to the two of you, at least deep down."

Rogue looked down and whispered. "That's what Ah've been afraid of. Ah'm really startin' to wonder the same thing. Ah just don't know what to do – mah first boyfriend is still in a coma from kissin' me, an' now Bobby doesn't want to even get close to touchin' me after we kissed an' Ah started absorbin' him. Sometimes Ah think no one will ever wanna get close to me an' Ah'll be alone 'cuz of this stupid power." Rogue said, clenching her gloved fists.

Annie squeezed her shoulders. "You're not alone in thinking things like that, Rogue. I've sometimes wondered the same thing myself. Carter's dad left me while I was still pregnant, and I've tried dating over the years but haven't really had any more luck. Even if you and Bobby don't work out, you've got your whole life ahead of you to find a guy that's right for you."

Rogue looked over to Annie and gave her a weak smile, happy that another person was willing to keep such close contact with her like Annie was willing to.

"Thanks Annie," she said. "Ah'm really not sure how we're gonna work out, but if Bobby keeps up like he has been, Ah think Ah'll hafta break it off with him an' let him be happy with Kitty if that's who he wants."

Annie patted Rogue's back comfortingly and then stood up. "Whatever you end up doing, just remember you have friends like me and Ororo and Logan that you can count on to support you."

Rogue smiled up at her and nodded. Annie walked over to Gambit's bed and cast a critical eye over his bandages. As she removed a dermal thermometer from a drawer and focused it on Gambit's skin to make sure he had not developed a fever – something that could indicate an infection from his wounds – she looked back over to Rogue. "Thank you for all of your help down here taking care of him. I'll make a nurse out of you yet."

Rogue blushed slightly. "It's no problem Annie. It gives me somethin' to do and think 'bout besides school and Bobby." She looked at the clock on the wall and sighed. "Ah better get goin'. Ah still have homework to do before Ah go to bed."

"Alright Rogue. In case I don't see you again, goodnight and have a good sleep."

"'Nite," Rogue said as she walked toward the entrance of the Medlab.

Annie pulled the thermometer away when it finally beeped and saw that it read 101 degrees. She'd been worried about fever the first time she had seen it, but according to Storm her friend's mutation seemed to keep his body at a higher temperature than most people.

Annie hummed to herself and removed the disposable tip and tossed into the garbage before she put a clean tip onto the thermometer and placed it back into the drawer. She walked to the back of the Medlab and through a door to where Xavier had set up an office for her. She sat back in her chair behind her desk and pulled out a book she had started to read during the past week. 'If he doesn't become conscious by tomorrow we're going to have to figure out something to do,' she mused to herself as she flipped her book open to the page she had bookmarked.

* * *

Later that night Rogue had completed her homework, and as she closed her book she felt her stomach growl. ' _Damn_ ,' she thought to herself, ' _now I'm getting pretty hungry. Guess I'll head down and see if they had any leftover pizza_.'

Rogue clicked her desk lamp off and left her room. She passed Storm's room and saw her sitting on her bed reading a book.

She walked down the stairs, and avoided the living room when she heard the voices of Bobby and Piotr drifting through the hallway. She walked into the kitchen and found that it was deserted, but that wasn't unusual at around eleven o'clock. She flicked on the lights near the counter and opened the fridge and bent down to look at the shelves for some sort of leftovers to tide her over until the morning.

* * *

Remy struggled to push himself to complete consciousness. He was almost certain he'd heard people talking near him, but he felt that the passage of time had become warped while he was unconscious – minutes seemed like hours and hours seemed like seconds.

He finally managed to open his eyes, and hissed out a soft curse when a glaring light above him sent a stabbing pain through his sensitive eyes. He groped around blindly for his sunglasses but felt nothing. He turned his head to the side, away from the light, and squinted at his surroundings.

He saw an IV stand, and cool metal walls and examination tables which led him to believe he was in a hospital of some sort. 'What am I doing here?' he wondered to himself. He pulled his arms further back and used them to help push himself up. He felt a twinge of pain in his abdomen and when he moved his hand he felt a tug and realized an IV had been taped to his arm.

He reached down and touched his abdomen and felt gauze over his skin and everything that had happened flashed back into his head. 'Stormy must have taken me to a hospital or something. How long have I been out?' He wondered to himself.

Remy glanced to the other side and saw a table and could make out the shape of his sunglasses lying folded on top of it. He reached out and managed to snag them nimbly with the tips of his fingers. He settled them on his face and slowly opened his eyes. He breathed a sigh of relief at the muted light and absence of a jolt of pain.

Remy stretched his arms and felt the tug of another bandage on his shoulder, and realized his entire torso was bare and he was only wearing a pair of pants. He grunted and glanced around the room which looked like a miniature hospital wing. The door was a thick metal door embossed with a large "X" symbol. ' _Maybe not a hospital_ ,' he thought, ' _maybe the school and Ororo's X-men have a place to take care of injuries_ '.

Remy felt his stomach rumble violently, and he realized he was suddenly very hungry. He pushed himself upright and swung his legs over the table and onto the ground. He held the edge of the bed as he stood on weak and wobbly legs until they steadied. He reached out to the IV stand when he saw that it was wheeled, and gripped that for support. 'No sense pissing off Stormy by taking out my IV if I can just wheel it around,' he thought to himself.

He took a step and then had to stop and grip the stand helplessly as his vision grayed out and he felt vertigo wash through him as blood rushed to his head from standing after his days in the bed. Once his vision cleared and he regained his sense of which direction up was, he padded barefoot towards the door with the IV stand rolling silently alongside him.

The door hissed silently open as he neared it, and he walked through, out into a long corridor populated by other doors with similar "X" symbols adorning them. If he wasn't so hungry he would have let his curiosity lead him to investigate each room, but all he could think about was getting something into his stomach.

He glanced into one room, which was filled with weights, treadmills, and other work-out machinery, and confirmed his suspicions. 'Either I'm in some sort of basement, or the X-men don't like windows,' he mused.

He walked further to the end of the hall and slowly walked up a set of stairs, lifting the IV stand to every step so he could pull on it to help himself up. He felt himself breathing heavily as he reached the top of the stairs. 'Mon Dieu _, how long have I been out of it_?' He wondered to himself.

He looked around and found himself near a large room that seemed to be an entrance area as he could see outside through windows near the door that occupied one side of the room.

Remy wandered down the hall and saw that the architecture on the ground floor was far different from the cool metal halls in the basement, and he realized that he was in the mansion where he had passed out in Ororo's arms.

He heard the television blaring in one room and several people talking. He strained his hearing and realized they were talking about chemistry. Remy crinkled his nose. ' _Damn glad I'm done with all of that B.S.,_ ' Remy thought to himself as he hurried past the slightly open door of that room.

He walked further down the hall and reached another entranceway where a light dimly shone from inside the room on the other side. This one did not have a door but was instead a large open frame. He glanced inside. ' _Jackpot_ ,' he thought when he spotted a countertop and an area with several tables further in the room.

He rounded the corner and stopped dead when he saw he was not alone. A petite female figure was bent over, looking into the fridge. ' _Double jackpot_ ,' Remy thought to himself with a grin as he watched the girl. She was wearing a well-worn pair of sweatpants and a light t-shirt – it looked to him like a makeshift pair of pajamas. The light illuminated her long brown hair which had been pulled back into a ponytail. As she moved her head slightly to the side to grab what looked like a box of pizza, he saw it glimmer off a white lock of hair that was tucked behind her ear.

Recognition flashed through Remy's mind. ' _Feisty girl_ ,' he thought, remembering the girl who had managed to catch him off guard and knock him on his back. ' _Damn, I_ thought _she was cute. Didn't even realize she had such a nice ass_ ,' he thought.

The girl straightened and turned with the pizza box in her hands. She jumped and made a noise that Remy could only classify as a squeak, and the pizza box nearly slipped from her hands. She raised a hand and pressed it against her chest.

"Jesus Christ! Ya scared the crap outta me!" She said, and he noticed her distinct southern accent, something he hadn't caught during their earlier encounter. "What're ya doin' outta your bed?" She demanded. She moved her hand from her chest as her heartbeat slowed and no longer felt like it was going to burst from her chest.

The man grinned in the same lopsided way he had three days ago. "Sorry I scared you. I was jus' enjoyin' de view." He said, nodding at her.

Rogue felt heat flood her face when she realized he was talking about her bending over in front of the fridge, and she was glad the low light would help hide her blush.

She let the fridge door close and set the pizza box down on the countertop. She finally looked back up to Gambit and saw he had his sunglasses on once again, and realized he must have just recently regained consciousness as his IV was still in and he remained shirtless. She gave herself a mental smack in the head when she realized she was rather enjoying watching the low light of the kitchen bounce across his body and off the tattoo of a playing card – the ace of spades – wreathed in fire on the bicep of his right arm.

"Ah was wonderin' when ya were gonna wake up," Rogue said. "Did Annie tell ya to get somethin' to eat?"

Gambit frowned slightly. "Annie? Who's dat?"

"The nurse down in the Medlab – the one that's been takin' care of ya?"

Gambit shook his head. " _Non_ , I jus' woke up an' no one was down dere wit' me. I was starvin' so I decided to look for de kitchen." He nodded to the box of pizza. "Mind if I have some?"

Rogue shook her head in uncertainty. "Ah don't think Annie would want ya eatin' pizza right away before she checks ya out. Besides, ya haven't eaten in at least three days an' ya'd probably end up pukin' it up in a few hours."

She saw him sigh in disappointment and quickly added, "Ah could make you some toast – Ah'm sure that wouldn't upset your stomach."

Gambit smiled. "Dat'd be nice. Maybe put some honey on it an' call it good?" He asked hopefully. "Not really a fan of plain toast."

"Okay, Ah'll make ya some toast so why don't ya go sit down at the table there. Ah don't wanna get in trouble with Annie for lettin' ya wear yahself out now that ya finally woke up."

Gambit complied readily, already feeling his legs growing weak from the walk to the kitchen and his time spent standing there. He sank heavily into a chair facing the countertop and watched Rogue move around the kitchen.

Rogue popped two pieces of bread into the toaster and once they were browned she searched through the cupboards until she found a bottle of honey. Once she drizzled some over the top of the toast, she picked up the plate and the box of pizza and carried them over to the table. She set the plate in front of Gambit and sat down in a chair across the table from him.

She watched in amazement as he promptly devoured the first piece in two large bites and then, when he realized she was watching him, bit slowly into the second piece.

Rogue opened the box and removed a piece of pepperoni pizza and bit into it. "So," she said once she swallowed her bite, "how are ya feelin'?

Gambit shrugged. "Doin' alright. Dis hurts a bit," he said, touching his bandaged abdomen, "but not too bad. Got no energy though."

He watched her take another bite. "I don' t'ink we been introduced, _une jolie_. What's y'name?"

Rogue smiled and held out a hand, which he realized was gloved. "Ah'm Rogue."

" _Enchanté_ ," he said. He took her hand in his own and turned it and bent his head to brush his lips on her knuckles. He managed to hide a smile when she blushed.

"Most people call me Gambit," he said, "but m'friends call me Remy LeBeau."

"An' can _Ah_ call ya Remy?" Rogue asked tentatively.

" _Oui_ , I'd like t'be friends wit' you, Rogue," Remy said to her.

Rogue smiled and slowly pulled her hand away from his and continued eating her pizza. After Remy took his last few bites of toast, he leaned his back against the chair and moved his arms above his head stretching the muscles that had been unused for nearly four days according to what Rogue had told him.

Rogue shot discrete glances as his muscles moved beneath his skin as he stretched and then looked at him in concern when his hissed out a breath and lowered his arms to discretely rub at his abdominal wound.

"Ah'm sorry," Rogue found herself saying before she realized she was even planning to speak.

Remy quirked an eyebrow in both amusement and confusion. "For what?"

Rogue lowered her gaze and guilt crept across her features. "Sorry for hittin' ya in your bullet wound. An' -"

Remy grinned disarmingly at her and cut her off in mid-sentence. "No need t'apologize. You didn' know I was hurt dere."

Rogue shrugged, her gaze fixed on her hands which rested on the table. "Ah know that. Still feel bad about it though. An' Ah'm sorry for not listenin' to ya when y'said y'were here to visit someone. Ah thought ya were breakin' in an' when ya moved Ah thought y'were goin' ta attack me."

"Hey, I wouldn'ta trusted me either," Remy said, slowly reaching across the table to tilt her chin and bring her eyes up from the table to him.

Rogue hit his hand away before it reached her. "No, don't touch me!" she said, looking up, and Remy could see the same panic from the other day in her eyes.

Remy pulled his hand back and held both of his hands up, palms out facing her. "Sorry, Rogue. I wasn' trying t'hurt you." He said.

' _She's acting like she's been abused or something_ ,' he thought grimly to himself.

Rogue shook her head and took a deep breath. "No, Ah'm sorry. Ah know ya weren't goin' ta hurt me, Remy. It's just…. it's mah mutation."

Remy looked at her curiously. "You mean like when you absorbed my powers?"

Rogue sighed, readying herself for another rejection when he learned about her mutation. "Yeah. Ah've got poison skin. Ah absorb people's powers an' memories, and if Ah hold on long enough Ah could put someone in a coma or kill 'em. An' Ah can't turn 'em off. Ah can't touch anyone with mah bare skin without suckin' the life outta them."

Remy had in the past few years developed a rudimentary empathy which allowed him to pick up the emotions of others, and he was able to read a resigned disappointment coming from her. She was expecting him to shun her because of her powers and inability to control them.

"Wow, dat really sucks. I know how you feel though, Rogue," he said, placing his hand on one of her gloved ones.

She looked up at him and felt tears bristle at the corners of her eyes, and a small surge of anger well up in her. "How can ya say ya know how Ah feel?" She demanded. "Ah can't touch _anyone_. Ah can't feel someone else's skin on mah hands or mah arms or mah cheek. Ah can't even hug someone without bein' worried unless Ah check ta make sure mah skin is covered and mah head is only near their shoulders. How can y'know what that's like?" She said, tears finally leaking down her cheeks. She felt all her frustration over her powers and over Bobby rush out of her during her rant.

Remy looked down. "I know how y'feel cuz I couldn' touch anyone for a long time either. I can put energy into t'ings by touchin' dem, an' make dem blow up. When m'powers first popped out, I was sixteen an' I blew up an auditorium. I started blowin' up ev'ryday t'ings, like toothbrushes an' spoons, an' soon it was pretty much anythin' I touched. I was afraid t'touch my _frère_ or my _tante_ or my _père_ because I thought I'd blow dem up too. I finally got control wit' some help two years later, an' even den I was scared t'touch people for a while."

Rogue looked apologetically at him. "Ah – Ah'm sorry Ah snapped at ya, Ah didn' know. Ah'm just so sick of most people tellin' me they know how Ah feel when they really have no idea."

Remy smiled, and then did what he had been trying to resist because of her earlier reaction – he brushed his thumb quickly over her cheek, swiping away the lone tear that sat there. He felt a slight tingle in his hand, but his contact was so brief it was hardly noticeable.

Rogue stared at him in amazement. "Thanks, Remy. For... not bein' afraid of me I mean. Only a few people ever try ta deliberately touch mah skin after they learn about mah power. An' even fewer when they feel what it's like when Ah absorb them."

"Well, I don't know how I could ever be 'fraid of such a _belle fille_ ," He said, this time not hiding his smile when she blushed. He decided he really liked seeing her like that.

Remy pushed his mirrored sunglasses further up the bridge of his nose, and Rogue remembered something she'd been wanting to ask him. "Remy, why do ya wear sunglasses all the time?"

"You sure you want t'know de reason?" He asked her.

When she nodded, he slowly removed his sunglasses. She saw his eyes were scrunched closed beneath them. As he slowly opened them, blinking slightly in the light of the kitchen, she gasped. The irises of his eyes were a bright red color, and the sclera surrounding the irises – usually white in most people and known as the "whites" of the eyes – was completely black. It gave his eyes a hypnotic, glowing appearance.

Remy moved quickly to replace the glasses when he heard her gasp, but she placed her hand over the one that held the glasses to stop him. "Remy, they're gorgeous!" She blurted out, and then slapped a hand over her mouth, blushing brightly when she realized what she'd said.

He hesitated, looking at her for several moments as if trying to decide if she was just trying to be nice and was actually creeped out like most people or if she really thought they were 'gorgeous', and then folded the glasses and placed them on the table. "You t'ink so? Most people get freaked out when dey see my eyes."

"Yes Ah do think so, Remy," Rogue said, looking seriously at him as she removed her hand from her mouth. "Ah like 'em."

"Well, you're one of de few _femmes_ dat t'ink dat." Remy said.

"How long have they been like that?" Rogue asked curiously.

"Long as I can remember. Dey usedta call me _le diable blanc_ – de white devil – when I was young."

"So is that why ya wear sunglasses all th' time? So people don't get freaked out?"

"Well, dat's part of it," Remy said, "dey are also pretty sensitive ta bright lights, so dese usually protect dem."

Remy still looked somewhat uncomfortable about the subject so she decided to change the subject. "Ah like your accent. It's Cajun, right?"

Remy's posture relaxed visibly. " _Oui_. I was born an' raised in N'awlins. Now let me guess for you – Miss'ippi, somewhere near 'bama?"

Rogue laughed and grinned widely. "Yeah, Ah'm from Meridian. How'd ya tell that?"

Remy shrugged nonchalantly. "Got a t'ing for accents. Ev'ry place has got a slightly dif'rent accent an' way dey use words."

Rogue took her last bite of the second slice of pizza she'd removed from the box, and then moved her legs up onto her chair so that her legs were folded up against her chest and she rested her folded arms on her knees. "So, why'd ya come here to see Ororo?"

Remy picked at the crumbs on his plate. "Well, Stormy tol' me I could check dis place out whenever I liked an' said I got an open invitation t'dis X-men team she's a part of."

Rogue's face lit up. "Really? Ah thought ya might only be here t'get help with somethin' from Storm. If ya like it here an' take her up on her invitation, we'd be teammates."

A large smile broke across Remy's face. "Y'mean you're an X-man? Or would dat be X-woman?"

Rogue giggled and nodded. "Yeah, me an' some of mah friends finally got spots on the team a few weeks ago."

"Well den, I t'ink dat I might just take stay here." He said to her. "Maybe I c'n help ya get your powers under control since I had de same problems wit' mine."

Rogues eyes widened and a small smile blossomed on her face. "Really? That'd be so great Remy, I –"

At that moment Ororo, who had apparently heard Rogue's voice from the room popped her head inside the doorway. She had a worried look on her face. "Rogue have you seen-" She broke off and sighed in relief when she saw Remy sitting at the table with her student. "Thank God, Gambit. Annie left her office for all of ten minutes and when she came back you were gone. What on earth possessed you to leave the med lab when you just woke up, especially while you're healing from two gunshot wounds?"

Remy looked sheepish. "Sorry Stormy, I woke up an' I was starvin' so I found de kitchen."

Ororo walked over to him and raised an eyebrow at his empty plate. "You didn't eat something that'll upset your stomach did you?"

"No Ororo," Rogue interjected. "Ah made him two slices of toast and that's all he's eaten. Although if Ah hadn't been here he'dve eaten the leftover pizza." She said, shooting a grin at Remy.

Ororo smiled at her. "Thank you, Rogue. It's good to see someone around here has some sort of common sense."

Remy gave both of them a mock wounded look. "Hey, I got common sense! It's my stomach dat don'!"

Storm laughed and placed a hand on Remy's shoulder. "Well, if you're done eating we better get you back down to the med lab before Annie has a heart attack over a missing patient."

Remy stood shakily and hastily gripped the IV stand to support himself. Ignoring his protests that he was fine, Storm grabbed his free arm and draped it over her shoulder. Rogue placed his plate in the sink and tossed the empty pizza box in the trash can and followed them out of the room.

Storm led Remy down the hall opposite to the entranceway, and stopped in front of a pair of doors which slid open when she pushed a button, revealing an elevator. "Damn, I woulda gone up dis instead of de stairs if I knew dis was here," Remy said with a groan. Signs of his exhaustion were finally beginning to show on his face.

The doors slid closed after Rogue entered the elevator, and Remy leaned back heavily against the wall. To Rogue it was clear that he'd been supporting most of his weight himself using the IV stand so he didn't put much weight on Ororo's shoulders, and it had taken a lot out of him.

The elevator jolted briefly and began its descent to the lower level of the mansion. The doors opened, and Rogue moved to Remy's other side and moved his arm over her shoulder. She took the IV stand from his grasp and held it in her own hand. She looked to the left at his face and raised an eyebrow, daring him to protest.

Remy's red-on-black eyes danced and then he chuckled. "Alrigh', alrigh', guess ya caught me." He said, and looked over at Ororo with an embarrassed grin when she realized what he'd been doing.

"Remy, just let us help you out. I know you're too proud to accept help most of the time, but you're injured and we both know that most of your energy goes into healing yourself when you're hurt as badly as you were." she admonished.

Remy signed in resignation and then leaned heavily on their shoulders as he came away from the back wall. As they walked him back he glanced over to Rogue with a grin. "Y'know, if ya wanted ta get dis close ta me all ya had to do was ask. I know dat most femmes can hardly keep their hands off me. Glad ta see I still got de touch even when I been shot."

A blush colored her cheeks and she shook her head in exasperation. "Geez. Ah'm sure ya've been told this plenty of times, but you're completely full of yahself."

Remy laughed. " _Mon Dieu_ , ya **_are_** a feisty one."

The doors to the med lab slid open and they were greeted by an anxious Annie. They helped him to his bed and he lay back on the pillows with a sigh of relief. Rogue wheeled the IV stand back to its spot next to the bed, and Annie moved to the other side.

"You gave me quite a scare there. I'm not used to patients just getting up and walking away like that."

"Sorry, woke up an' was really hungry so I went ta get somet'ing ta eat. An' don' worry, Miss Pizza Nazi over dere made sure I only ate toast," he grumbled, and nodded at Rogue but softened his comments with a lopsided smile.

"Well, I'm glad you're awake. I was getting worried today that you still hadn't regained consciousness. I was going to examine you once you woke up, but you look pretty beat so I'll put that off until tomorrow morning. Tomorrow I think we can take this thing out of you as well," Annie said, touching his IV.

Remy yawned and blinked. "Yeah, dat's probably a good idea. G'night Stormy." He said as he let his eyelids close.

"Goodnight. We'll have to catch up tomorrow if you're not feeling so drained."

Remy nodded and then sleepily muttered, "G'night, Rogue," as he drifted to sleep.

"Night," Rogue said softly.

Ororo looked to the other two women, and raised a hand to her mouth to hide a yawn of her own. "Well, I think he has the right idea. I'm headed to bed. Rogue, you should probably head off too – don't you have a seven o'clock class with Professor Xavier tomorrow?"

Rogue nodded and began following her out of the room while Annie walked back into her office to shut off the lights, and then started when she glanced at the clock on the wall of the med lab, which showed it was nearly one in the morning. "Damn!" She exclaimed, "Ah didn' realize Remy an' Ah were talkin' that long."

"'Remy'?" Ororo asked and looked curiously back at Rogue. "Where'd you hear his name? I don't remember mentioning that."

Rogue shrugged. "Remy told me. He said usually only his friends call him that an' he wanted ta be my friend."

Ororo looked at her with a surprised expression on her face. "Well that's an understatement. He rarely tells anyone his real name unless he has known them for quite some time and come to trust them. I didn't know his name for almost two weeks, and even then it was under special circumstances."

"You didn't?"

"No, I didn't, Rogue." She moved her head closer to Rogue's and lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Only thing I can think of is he trusts you, really has the hots for you, or both. Probably both, knowing Remy." She said, and laughed when Rogue looked at her in shock.

"R-really?" Rogue asked, feeling both excited at the thought and ashamed for her excitement when an image of Bobby flashed through her head.

"Probably, Rogue. You might not think it but you're a very beautiful young woman, and pretty girls tend to be Remy's weakness if they aren't complete airheads and have a personality that he likes. Besides, from all the flirting I saw from him as we took him down I think it's safe to say he likes you."

Rogue stared at the door of the elevator in silence, trying to sort through her conflicted feelings.

"Rogue, I saw the way you two looked at each other. I know you like him - just don't break his heart. I know you are dating Bobby and if Bobby is the person you love, then tell Remy that right away and he'll back off. I just… I don't want to see him hurt again."

Rogue nodded with a heavy sigh, and then looked at her curiously. "What happened?"

Ororo glanced away. "He was really in love a year or so ago, and he caught the girl cheating on him. I don't want to see him like that again."

Rogue nodded in understanding. "Ah won't lead him on. But heck, Ah'm not even sure if Bobby is the person Ah want to be with. We've been havin' so many problems lately an' Ah just think our relationship has started ta die."

Ororo patted her on the shoulder. "Love, especially young love, can be really tricky. Lots of times it goes hot and cold. It gets hot very quickly but then everything cools just as fast."

The elevator reached the top floor, and they exited it and walked down the hallways toward their rooms. "Ah was wonderin', how did yah meet Remy?" Rogue asked Storm hesitantly.

Storm stopped at her doorway leaned against the door, which had been repaired, something Logan had seen to the day after the fight. "I'll tell you the whole story someday, but a few years ago, before you and Logan arrived at the mansion, something happened to me and I woke up in Louisiana with my memory of everything after my fifteenth birthday erased. I was so confused because I didn't look fifteen. Remy was the first person who found me and we spent several months together, roaming the East Coast, trying to get my memory back. We became good friends during that time, and for a while I even thought I was in love with him, but we realized we would never be anything more than good friends and now he's basically become the younger brother that I never had."

Rogue smiled. "Thanks for tellin' me that. From what yah told me an' from talkin' with him, he's a really nice guy. Ah wonder why anyone would want ta shoot him."

Ororo placed a hand on her shoulder. "I don't know who would have shot him, but I know that in the past he's had to get involved with some less than savory people to get by and fit in where he grew up."

"Y'mean, like criminals?"

Ororo shrugged. "Sometimes, yeah. The way he grew up that was normal – his family is very involved in that."

Rogue looked at her thoughtfully and then a large yawn overtook her. She covered her mouth and then said, "Sorry, Ah guess Ah'm really tired. Ah better go to bed."

"Goodnight Rogue. Have a good sleep. I may have you show Remy around the school tomorrow if he's feeling up to it, and how my classes go."

She watched Rogue nod and walk further down the hall to her room. Ororo then pushed herself off from her leaning position against the door and opened it up. She changed into some nightclothes and collapsed gratefully onto her mattress.

' _Less than savory is an understatement,'_ she thought wryly to herself. She drifted off to sleep wondering which of Remy's numerous employers decided they wanted him dead.

* * *

The black-clad young man slipped through the door of the abandoned warehouse. He walked past stacks of empty wooden crates and freight shipping containers that had been left in the warehouse. He moved down one aisle and saw a blond-haired man wearing horn-rimmed glasses and a long gray trenchcoat, sitting on a crate.

The blond-haired man looked up as he came into view. "Report."

The young man nodded. "LeBeau has been taken care of."

The blond-haired man looked sharply at him. "Are you sure Mister Boudreaux? You confirmed it?"

Émile Boudreaux hid his anger at being questioned. "Of course I did. Dis was personal. LeBeau is at de bottom of a river right now."

"Alright. Here's your fee," he said, tossing a bundle of hundred dollar bills to him.

Émile flipped through the notes and then stuffed the bundle in his pocket. "Thanks for the opportunity," he said. ' _Julien, I finished what you started. I hope you're at peace now brother_ ,' he thought, his eyes rising momentarily heavenward. Émile turned and began to walk away, intent on getting back to New Orleans as quickly as possible.

"Oh, Boudreaux," the other man called after him. Émile turned his head, and the man smoothly pulled a pistol with a suppressor protruding from its barrel. He pulled the trigger and Émile's body fell to the floor as the man double-tapped his shot, sending two bullets smoothly into his head.

The man removed the silencer and placed it in his pocket, and then took a long rod from another pocket. The rod ended with sharp metal protrusions that emerged around the outside of the rod. He inserted it into the barrel and twisted it several times around the barrel, scratching sharply into the metal to change the barrel profile permanently, making any future bullet fired from the gun different from the two in Boudreaux's body, rendering it impossible to match them to the gun.

He slipped the gun and rod into an inner pocket of his coat, and removed a thin cell phone. He flipped it open and pressed "1", activating the speed dial, and pushed the Talk button.

The phone on the other end rang several times before a voice with a smooth timbre answered. "Yes?"

"That matter we discussed several days ago has been cleared up. The loose ends have been tied up and I just provided our assistant with his reward for his help."

"You're sure?" The voice asked.

"Yes, our assistant was quite certain he'd taken care of everything."

"Very good. I'll see you tomorrow morning at the campaign office for the strategy meeting." The voice said before hanging up on his end of the conversation.

The man flipped the phone closed and removed a lighter from his pocket. He flicked the flint twice and sparks flew, igniting a flame at the top. He held it up to a pile of newspapers which rested on a crate, and they instantly flared up, the fire quickly catching on the crate below.

The man strolled from the building as the orange flickering glow of fire filled the warehouse behind him.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well, hope you liked it. Plenty of ROMY goodness in this chapter. It'll be a while before they actually hook up though – attempts will first be made by Bobby and Rogue to patch up and eventually end their relationship, etc. 
> 
> And no, Émile, is not from the comics but rather a character of my own creation (his brother however is from the comics – for those that don't know, Julian in the comics was killed in a duel he challenged Remy to)


	4. Acclimation - Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: X-men is owned by Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox. I do not own X-men, nor am I making a profit from this work of fan-fiction. So please don't sue me! Not that you'd get a whole lot from me anyway. ;)  
> AN: Please Read and Review. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

** Chapter 4: Acclimation - Morning **

* * *

Remy groaned as sleep left him. He rubbed away the rheum that had formed on his eyelashes during the night, and cracked an eye open to reach for his sunglasses. He placed them on his head and pushed himself to a sitting position on his bed. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was just past six o'clock. Remy squinted behind his sunglasses as a bright light flared across the room as the door to the office in the back of the Medlab opened, and he realized he had been woken by Annie entering the sliding door at the front of the Medlab.

Annie set a book she had been carrying down on her desk and turned around back to the lab. "Good morning," she greeted him cheerfully. "Sorry if I woke you up, I like to get an early start to my mornings."

"S'okay," Gambit said as he yawned. As Annie walked closer to him he realized she was dressed in sweatpants and a hooded jersey. "You gettin' ready ta work out or somet'ing?"

Annie nodded. "Yeah, I was going to go for a run around the grounds of the mansion, but since you're awake, why don't we give you a quick checkup and get that IV out of you?"

"Oui, dat'd be great," Remy said, relieved that he'd get it out of the way early.

Annie walked over to a drawer and pulled out a thermometer, and placed the tip against his skin, depressing the button. "Here, hold this right here until it beeps while I grab a few things," she said.

Remy grabbed the bottom of the thermometer and held it while she grabbed a stethoscope and several other instruments. As she moved back and placed them on the table, the thermometer beeped, and she took it from his grasp, removing the tip from his ear. "Hm, still 101. Ororo said it was normal for you to run a few degrees higher than most people?"

"Oui, dat's about right. Usually its 100 or 101," Remy said.

Annie nodded and placed it back on the table. She grabbed an otoscope and turned the light at the end on. "I'll just give you a basic checkup, so ears, eyes, throat, and heartbeat," she said, "Could you turn your head and tilt it to the side?" When he complied, she inserted the tip of the otoscope into his ear and peered through the low-magnification lens, checking the health of his ear and ear canal. She repeated the procedure with his other ear.

She checked his throat, and felt the lymph nodes below his jaw. "Okay, could you remove your sunglasses?"

He hesitated, and she knew why. "Don't worry, I've already seen them when I checked your pupil reaction while you were unconscious." He removed the glasses and she tested his eye reaction to movement and had him follow her finger around with his eyes. She finally put the stethoscope to her ears and placed the bell to his chest, listening for some time to his breathing and heartbeat.

She stood back and smiled at him. "Well, I have to say you're one of the healthiest people I've seen a few days after they were shot twice." She moved to the cabinet and removed a bandage. She took his arm into her hands and peeled the tape off before gently removing the needle of the IV. She peeled away the back of the bandage and secured it over where the IV needle had punctured his skin.

"Alright, I want you to take it easy the next few days, and I want you to come back down here sometime this afternoon so I can check how your wounds are healing up. I think they might be healed enough to take your stitches out. You should probably go get some breakfast and get some more food in your system and you'll probably not feel as tired later today."

"Alrigh', Annie. I'll come see y'later t'day. Thanks for takin' care of me. 'Preciate it."

"You're welcome, Gambit, but you should really be thanking Rogue. She's been working with me, learning some medicine, and she did most of the work - she stitched up your shoulder wound for me and she's been in here changing your bandages every day."

Remy smiled. "I'll hafta remember dat."

Annie grinned back, and her eyes widened when she remembered something. She walked over to the other side of the room and grabbed a black T-shirt from a countertop, and tossed it to him. "Here, Ororo went out and bought some things for you since we had to cut the shirt you were wearing to treat you. I think she put all of your body armor and stuff in a guest room she's getting set up for you."

"Thanks," Remy said as she walked toward the exit, "have a good run," he called after her.

Remy looked at the t-shirt in his hands and pulled the collar over his head. He shoved his arms through the sleeves and hissed out a breath as the stitches in his shoulder pulled painfully at his skin.

He pulled the shirt down the rest of the way and slowly stood, testing out the strength of his legs. ' _Better than last night_ ,' he thought as he wobbled only slightly. Remy slid his sunglasses back onto his face and slowly walked to the exit of the room. He moved down the hallway and punched the button to call the elevator, wanting to avoid the steps as much as he could.

As the curved door of the elevator slid open on the main floor, he realized that the halls were just as deserted as they had been the night before. This time even the television was silenced and the lights in every room he walked by were turned off. He smiled to himself. "Guess dey're not mornin' people. Dey'd learn t'get up early like I did if dey had Sarah-" he muttered and then broke off as he remembered exactly why he had come to the mansion.

His eyes widened, and a curse slipped from his lips. ' _Merde, I haven't called her and Henri in three days now. She's probably freaking out right now. Henri probably is too. I'll have to call them today_ ,' he thought to himself.

Remy entered the kitchen, and moved straight to the fridge, which was this time not occupied by Rogue. He pulled the door open and bent down, holding onto the side of the fridge to keep his balance. His eyes jumped quickly across each shelf, analyzing each item with the same speed and organization as he did when he was casing a location for a future hit.

His eyes settled on a large carton of eggs, deciding to keep it simple and bland so as to not upset Ororo. He pulled the egg carton out and set it on the countertop. He began opening cabinet doors until he found one that contained skillets and another with plates. He pulled one of each out and placed the skillet on the stove after turning the burner on.

Remy walked over to where he had seen Rogue take the bread from the previous night, and he removed two pieces which he threw into the toaster. Turning back, he opened the egg carton and pulled out two eggs. He expertly cracked the two shells and allowed the contents of each to spill neatly on the warming skillet.

Remy tossed the eggshells into the nearby trashcan and moved back to the fridge. Opening it once more, he grabbed an opened half-gallon cardboard carton of milk, one of several similar cartons in the large fridge. He shook it and realized it was nearly half full.

Remy let the door to the fridge close, and he tweaked the end of the carton open. He tilted the open end above his mouth and began gulping mouthfuls as he turned back toward the stove. He stopped and lowered the carton and barely avoided accidentally spitting out his mouthful in surprise when he saw Rogue standing in the doorway.

She folded her arms, and a mock frown appeared on her face as she watched him swallow the milk in his mouth and quickly swipe at his lips with the back of his hand. "Ya better not be plannin' ta put that back in the fridge now. Ah bet Ororo'd just **love** t'hear yah've been drinkin' from the carton."

Remy's eyes widened behind his sunglasses, and he set the carton on the countertop. "Hey, now, let's not be too hasty dere. I'll finish it up with m'breakfast. Don't t'ink Stormy would be int'rested in dat information at all."

Rogue's grinned and she walked into the kitchen and pulled a stool from under the countertop and sat on it, leaning her elbows on the counter. "Didn' expect ya ta be up this early."

Remy leaned on the counter across from her, glancing at the skillet to check on the eggs. "Well, neither did I, but dat Doc of yours, Annie, was gettin' somet'ing from her office an' I woke up when de doors opened, so I figured why waste m'time tryin' to fall back to sleep? What're you doin' up dis early?"

Rogue propped her chin up on the palms of her hands. "Ah've got class at seven that Ah've gotta go to, an' Ah wanted ta get some breakfast before Ah went."

Remy glanced once more at his skillet. "How d'you like your eggs?"

"Um, usually sunny side up, why?" Rogue answered him.

Remy pushed himself away from the counter and grabbed a spatula, which he used to scrape the two eggs off the skillet and onto the plate before they cooked any further. He stepped across to the toaster-oven and pulled out the two browned pieces of toast he had put in it, and placed them on the plate.

Remy smiled and set the plate down in front of her. "Dere you go, toast and two eggs sunny-side up."

Rogue gave him a shy smile. "Really, Remy? But ya were makin' this for yahself. Ya should eat it."

"Well, you got only twenty minutes till y'class, an' I got all mornin' t'make myself breakfast. Now y'better eat up or de food'll get cold." Remy said. He moved back to the skillet and cracked two more eggs on it and let them begin to cook.

He leaned his elbows back on the counter and watched her begin to eat from behind his sunglasses. She dipped the toast into the runny yolk and whites of the egg after every bite. As she finished with the first piece of toast she reached out and snagged the carton of milk he'd been drinking from earlier and poured some into her mouth.

She set it down and saw him looking at her incredulously. "What? Ya'll thought ya big ol' men've got the copyright on that or somethin'?" She asked him, her eyes twinkling. "Ah was just givin' ya grief b'fore."

Remy barked out a laugh. "Well, ya sure got me den. I was wonderin' how t'run away from lightnin' bolts aimed at my ass if you tol' her I was drinkin' from de carton."

Rogue giggled – something Remy found himself wanting to hear from her often. "That'd be quite a sight. Ah'd pay t'see that."

Remy smirked. "My ass? _Dieu_ , all y'have t'do is ask an' I'll let y'see it. I don' require money for dat. Now, if people wanna touch it or somet'ing, I charge unless de person doin' de touchin' is a _belle femme_."

Rogue blushed. "No, ya pervert. Ah meant Ah'd pay t'see Ororo launchin' lightnin' bolts at ya, 'specially when y'got such a dirty mind."

"Right, I'm sure dat's what you meant." Remy said with a wink.

Rogue rolled her eyes, took another bite of toast and said, "Thanks for makin' me breakfast by the way. Ya got the eggs ta a good consistency. Ah like it."

"No problem. In fact, I hear I should be thankin' you."

Rogue looked at him with a bewildered expression. "Thank me for what?"

"Well, Annie tol' me you been takin' care of me, stitchin' my shoulder an' changin' my bandages, my IV an' all dat. Said ya did all de hard work for her. So thanks. I owe ya," Remy said seriously.

Rogue turned near-scarlet. "Ah, it wasn't – Ah – Annie really tol' ya that?"

Remy nodded. "Oui. So, you int'rested in nursin'?"

Rogue shrugged, her face slowly returning to its normal color. "Yeah, Ah guess. Ah don't know, Ah just got into it a few weeks ago when a friend of ours died on a mission. She usedta be the nurse here, an' when Ah met Annie Ah started getting' interested in it." She glanced down at her plate, and even without focusing on his empathy he could feel embarrassment and disappointment from her radiating through the room. "Only, Ah think Annie an' Ah both know Ah'll never be able ta get serious about it an' actually go ta school for it or anythin' with mah power like it is."

"Don' talk like dat, Rogue. I'm promised ya I'd help you control y'powers. Den y'can go an' be a nurse or whatever you want. An' when I promise a _belle_ _femme_ like y'self somet'ing like dat, I keep it. Okay?"

Rogue nodded and smiled, feeling overjoyed that he'd been serious about helping her the previous night. While she knew the Professor was doing his best to help her, she didn't really feel like she was getting anywhere. Remy had been in her position before, and had the same type of power and had gone through the same lack of control, so he had personal experience that could possibly help her gain control over her own power.

Remy glanced at the clock, and said, "Hey, y'said you had class at seven, right?"

Rogue nodded and said, "Yeah, why?

"Well, now ya got only 'bout seven minutes."

Rogue's eyes snapped to the clock, and she gasped. She dragged her last bite of toast through the remaining egg and stuffed it into her mouth. She scrambled off the stool and rushed from the room with a quick backwards wave and a mumbled "See ya later!"

Remy smiled to himself and scraped the eggs he was cooking onto his plate. He set his plate next to the one Rogue had left behind in her rush, and sat down on a stool.

He straightened up as a tall, very muscular young man walked into the room. He stopped when he saw Remy sitting at the counter, and then walked over to him and extended a hand. "Hello, you must be that friend of Storm's I've been hearing about. I'm Piotr Rasputin."

"Bonjour, I'm Gambit. Nice ta meet you." Remy said, grasping his hand and shaking it firmly.

"So, are you feeling better? The stories that were circulating through the mansion ranged from you being near death with gunshot wounds to being deathly ill with some sort of disease, and everything in between depending on who you ask."

Gambit laughed. "Well, I did get shot an' was out of it a few days while I healed, but I don' t'ink it was anyt'ing close to 'near death'."

Piotr looked at him, surprised. "Your mutation is like Mister Logan's?" He quickly rephrased when Gambit looked at him in confusion. "He's kind of a professor here. He heals extremely fast – I heard once he got shot in the head and healed in like one or two minutes."

Gambit shrugged, the description not really matching the few he'd encountered since coming to the mansion. "Well, def'nitely not dat fast, but I can heal pretty quick. Got shot a few days ago an' I t'ink your nurse, Annie, I t'ink she's gonna take out my stitches later today."

Piotr nodded and then walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a box of cereal. He poured a heaping bowlful and took some milk from the refrigerator and poured it over the top.

"So, where are you from, Gambit?" He said, trying to strike up a longer conversation.

"Was born an'raised down in N'awlins. I've traveled 'round de country de past few years, an' I got a place down near D.C. dat I've been livin' in for a year now. How 'bout you?"

"Well, I was actually born in Russia, and my parents moved over around the time I turned one. Ever since then we've lived in Illinois. You know where Joliet is?"

Gambit nodded. "Yeah, just outside of Chicago. Drove through dere a few times t'get to de city."

"Well, I lived there until I got out of high school. My mutation developed about halfway through high school and eventually started developing too fast, so I came here after I graduated, to get some help. Professor Xavier – don't know if you've met him yet – actually came to my house and invited me to the school. Before that we had no idea where to go to get me some help."

Gambit shoveled the last of the eggs onto his fork and put them into his mouth as he looked almost wistfully at his plate. When he swallowed, he said, "Almost wish he could've come t'me. I had lots of trouble controlling m'powers, an' I had ta figure dem out on my own. But den dere's only so many people dat he can help at one time, an' de world's full of mutants dat need a lot more help den I did." He said with a shrug.

Piotr nodded. "Yeah, he can only do so much."

Gambit stood and grabbed both his plate and the one Rogue had left behind and took them over to the sink.

Piotr turned his head and asked. "What do you do for a living, Gambit?"

Gambit hid a grin, and talked over the noise of the faucet as he washed the two plates. "I'm actually a jeweler an' an art seller."

Piotr looked at him in surprise. "Really? I would've pegged you as some sort of professional gambler or a chess player or something with your name and all."

Gambit laughed. "Well, I do like t'gamble but I don' make a profession out of it. 'Sides, sometimes acquirin' t'ings and den hopin y'can sell dem for more can be a gamble itself. What d'you do or want t'do when y'get outta school?"

Piotr actually looked somewhat embarrassed. "Well, don't laugh, but I'd really like to be a professional artist. I love drawing and painting pretty much anything."

Gambit shrugged. "I ain' gonna laugh _mon ami_. If dat's what you like an' what you're good at den go for it."

Piotr looked at him sheepishly. "Thanks. I'm just used to people thinking I should get into basketball or something because I am tall, or get into some sort of science or engineering. They usually don't think of me being an artist."

Remy finished cleaning the two plates and grabbed a towel and dried them off before he placed them back into the cabinet. He turned back to Piotr. "Hey, Piotr, d'you know if Storm is awake yet?"

Piotr nodded. "Yeah, she's usually awake by now. She's going to be in class in about an hour, but she should be up. In fact I'm surprised she hasn't come to get breakfast yet."

"Thanks. I'm gonna try t'find her, so if she comes here, tell her I was lookin' for her."

"Alright," Piotr said as Gambit walked toward the doorway of the kitchen, "Nice meeting you Gambit."

"Same t'you, Piotr," Gambit said.

* * *

Gambit walked slowly down the hall, wondering if he should attempt to find Ororo, or just wait around until she showed up, when spotted a familiar shock of long white hair appear as Storm walked down the stairs.

"Remy!" Storm said. "I didn't expect to see you up this early. I take it from you not having your IV that Annie already checked you out? Or did you just take it out yourself?"

Remy grinned at her. "Non, Stormy, Annie already gave me a checkup."

"Well, are you feeling better today?"

Remy nodded. "Oui. An' I just ate some breakfast. Finally startin' t'feel some energy come back."

"Good." Ororo said, and then grabbed his shoulders and yanked him into a firm hug. "You scared me Remy. I'm so glad you're all right. I thought I was gonna lose you," she whispered into his ear, her voice breaking on her last sentence. She felt tears of relief come to her eyes.

Remy held her in his arms and rubbed her back when he heard her sniffle quietly. "S'okay _ma soeur_. I ain' dat easy t'get rid of."

Ororo let out a watery laugh and rested her forehead on his shoulder. "You'd better be planning on telling me what you've been up to." She put her mouth to his ear. "And what trouble you've gotten into for that wad of hundreds in your trenchcoat."

Remy signed resignedly. "I know, Stormy. I'll tell ya later – it's a long story. Sorry I ain' been callin' ya lately. An' sorry I scared you."

Ororo pulled back and looked up at his face. "It's okay Remy. I've been so busy I haven't been able to call you either."

Remy reached out and swiped away a tear that had fallen down her cheek. "Annie tells me y'already got a room ready for me. You still tryin' t'get me to stay here?"

Ororo's eyes fell to the floor. "Well, I was kind of hoping you had come to stay. But if you just came for some help, you know I'll help you with anything."

Remy grinned down at her and reached up to chuck her affectionately under the chin. "Jus' playin' wit' ya Stormy. I was comin' here t'see you an' check dis place outb'fore I got shot. I been t'inkin' of takin' you up on y'offer for a while."

A smile made its way onto Ororo's face. "Well then, let me show you your room before I have to go teach my class." Ororo said, grabbing his hand and leading him toward the elevator.

The elevator stopped on the third floor, and she led him to a room toward the eastern end of the hall. She opened the door and let him walk in. The room was about the same size and layout as hers, and had a door that opened up onto a small balcony.

Remy sat on the bed, leaning his back against the headboard. "Nice room, Stormy."

Ororo sat down near the foot of the bed. "Glad you like it. I talked to Professor Xavier and the room is yours if you do want to stay. On one condition."

"What's dat?"

"You tell me what happened. Charles needs to know if there's any danger to the students from whoever tried to kill you."

Remy sighed and leaned his head back, removing his sunglasses. "Non, dere's no danger now. Long story short, I took a job an' my employer paid me half upfront. Dat's de money dat was in my coat. I did de job, an' I was headin' out to see you an' check dis place out for a friend of mine dat's havin' problems wit' their powers, an' maybe take y'up on your offer for myself. Guess my employer didn' want someone out dere dat knew about de job he pulled, an' hired an assassin."

"Dey shot me while I was ridin' my motorcycle over a bridge on a long straight stretch of road – musta been wit' a sniper rifle – an' I went inta a river. Stayed under for a while – an' y'know how long I can hold m'breath – until dey figgered I was dead. Damn waste of a fine bike." Remy said, shaking his head in regret. "Dey t'ink I'm dead an' I'm fine leavin' it dat way, so ev'ryone here ain' gonna be in danger."

Storm waited quietly for several moments, and realized he was struggling with deciding whether or not to tell her the entire story of why his employer had wanted him dead. She patted his knee. "It's okay Remy. You can tell me the details later when you're ready. As long as we don't have to worry about someone hunting you down here, that's all I need to know now. And your friend is welcome here if he or she wants to come."

Remy nodded gratefully to her, glad for her understanding of him.

Ororo placed her hands on her knees and stood up. "I'll let you get settled in. All of your stuff is over on the dresser, and I went out and got you some new clothes. I have to get back downstairs and grab something to eat before class. I'll be done at around noon, so you behave yourself until then, okay?"

Remy rolled his eyes. "Okay Stormy. You make it sound like I'm gonna run around de mansion stealin' everyt'ing I can find."

Ororo looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. "And that would be unusual for you how?"

Remy grinned back at her. "Well, you got a point dere. Don' worry Stormy, I'm too tired to go stealin'."

"Okay, Remy. I'll see you around lunchtime."

* * *

Remy forced himself upright off the bed as Ororo walked out the door. He walked over to the dresser where Ororo had neatly folded his trenchcoat. He grabbed it and tossed it onto the bed.

Remy first removed the collapsed bo staff and set it on a nightstand near his bedside that was occupied only by a small lamp and an alarm clock. Remy grabbed the bundle of bills that Ororo had discovered and set it on the bed.

He grabbed several pouches from various hidden pockets, and unzipped each, making sure his lock pick kit and other tools of the trade were all intact. He then pulled out a slim plastic case. He popped it open and sighed in relief when he saw his cigarettes inside had remained dry during his watery plunge. ' _Guess they told the truth about it being airtight_ ,' he thought to himself.

Remy ran his hands along the inside of the coat to check on several concealed throwing spikes – double pointed _bo-shuriken_ around five inches long – he kept as a backup if he ran out of cards to charge. He had fastened them in tight Velcro loops to make for easy and quick removal, but when he felt only two of his usual four, he realized it had made it easier for them to get lost in his fall.

Remy pulled out two packs of cards and shuffled through them. One deck was warped from water exposure, and he tossed it into a garbage can, but the second had still been wrapped up in its cellophane packaging, and when he tore it off and shuffled through the cards he saw that it had kept them dry. He slid the deck into the pocket of his jeans, glad that he still had a set to use.

Finally he reached the pocket he had been dreading, and pulled out a thin cell-phone. He flipped open the cover and attempted to turn it on, but nothing happened. He pried open the battery cover, and groaned when a small trickle of water emerged. "Fuck!" He knew that with water infiltrating that far that the phone was ruined. He squinted into the battery compartment and gently removed the SIM card, so he could keep his data and put it into a new phone, and placed it on the nightstand.

Remy picked up the bundle of hundreds and peeled several out, which he pocketed. He replaced most of the rest in his trenchcoat and placed the trenchcoat back on the dresser, but he folded several bills and placed them in the battery compartment of his phone - tossing the ruined battery into the trash can - and then replaced the battery cover and placed the phone under the soil of the potted plant that sat near his balcony. From his experience as a thief, he would never keep all of his valuables in the same place if he could help it: no sense making it easy for another thief.

Remy stepped over to a low dresser across from the bed. A television set and a cordless telephone rested on top of it. He grabbed the telephone, grateful that he wouldn't have to wander the mansion in search of one, and carried it over to the bed. He leaned against the headboard, and dialed his brother's number.

The other end rang three times before it was picked up and a smooth baritone voice answered. "Hello, dis is Henri."

"Oh, really? Damn, I thought dis was de number for a phone sex hotline." Remy said.

"Remy? Thank God you're alright!" Henri said, sounding relieved. "What the hell have you been doing? You haven't called in days!"

"Sorry. You were right. Dey sent someone after me."

"Are you alright?"

" _Oui_. Now at least."

"Did you take care of him?" Henri asked.

" _Non._ I played dead. Not dat hard t'do wit two bullets in me an' fallin' in a river an' all. He'll report back dat he took me out, so we're safe now."

" _Dieu_ , Remy you were _shot_? ** _Again_** _?_ "

"Yeah, de coward had ta sit back wit' a sniper rifle an' couldn' take me on man to man. Lucky I was gettin' a sore ass an' was movin' around on my bike seat right den – only got me in de shoulder an' de stomach."

Henry sighed heavily. "Damn, Remy. You healin' up?"

" _Oui_. Made it to Stormy's place b'fore I passed out. Dey got a damn sweet little private hospital here. Been out of it de past three days an' jus' woke up last night. Already almost back to normal."

"Good. Well, glad you called. Was wonderin' if I'd hafta take care of Sarah without you."

Remy's voice became tense. "How is she?"

"She's been a mess since de first day y' didn' give us a call. Tears in her eyes anytime she thinks about you. She's been hidin' away in her room de past few days, an' ain' been eatin' much, an' she don' do much besides sit on her bed or stare out de window. I been worried about her."

Remy sighed heavily. "Damn. I thought she might not be doin' well. Can I talk to her?"

"Yeah, I'll take y' to her," Henri said.

Remy heard the outside noise for a minute as Henri carried the phone from wherever he was over to Sarah's room.

Remy heard him knock on her door, and a muffled voice answer. He heard Henri open the door, and say "Hey dere Sarah. I got someone dat wants to talk to y'."

Remy could hear a sudden rustling of sheets and the phone being fumbled with. "R-Remy?" Sarah's soft voice came over the phone.

"Hey _petite_ , you been a good girl for Henri for me?"

"Yeah, Remy." Sarah said, her voice trembling. Then Remy heard a sob over the phone. "I-I thought you left me or you were dead like ev'ryone down in the tunnels. I thought I'd n-never see you again." She said, sobbing openly.

Remy felt his heart break. "Sarah, I ain' gonna leave you," he said, his own voice becoming husky. "I'm sorry I scared you _petite_. I hadta take care of somet'ing so de men from de tunnels can't ever hurt you again, you understand? I'm at dat school I was tellin' you about now, an' I'm gonna talk wit' de main professor here an' see if he can help ya."

"Y-you're gonna come back here?" Sarah asked him quietly her sobs died down.

"Of course, _ma mignonne_. I'll be back soon as I can."

"Will you call us every day again?"

"Yeah. How 'bout dis – I'll call you ev'ry day right at dis time, an' if I don' call ya, you make Henri call me 'til I pick up. How's dat sound?"

Sarah sniffled quietly. "Okay, Remy. Please come back soon. I miss ya."

"I miss ya too _petite_. Be good for Henri for me, an' eat somet'ing for me. You won' do y'self any good not eatin'. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright Remy. Here's Uncle Henri," she said.

There was another rustling as the phone was handed back to Henri. "Hey."

"I'll come see you two prob'ly in a week. I tol' Sarah dat I'll call dis time ev'ry day, an' if I don' she's supposed to get you t'call me 'till I pick up. Cell phone got ruined an' I probably won't be able t'get another for a day or two, so call me back here. You got paper?"

"Yeah, jus' a minute." A small amount of time passed, and then Henri said, "Okay, I'm ready."

Remy walked over to the handset charger, and glanced at the phone number listed on it. "Jus' call 914-555-4865. Dey've got diff'rent extensions. Mine's 4023, an' y'should be able t'get to de main line if I don' answer."

"'Kay. Hope Sarah'll start eatin' an' getting back t'normal now dat she knows y' okay. She really cares 'bout you Remy."

"I know. Don' know how I got 'tached to her so quick but I feel de same way 'bout her."

"Aw, Remy, we both know y' got a soft spot for pretty _femmes_. Dey always get y' wrapped around their little finger." Henri laughed. "Now y' take care of y'self, an' no more getting shot. Seems like y' tryin' t'break de record for getting' shot de most in a month or somet'ing."

"I'll try. Talk t'you tomorrow, _mon frère_."

"G'bye, _petit frère_." Henri replied, and Remy heard the click on the other end of the line.

Remy set the handset on the dresser and slouched down until he was lying on the bed. He felt emotionally drained, and he was surprised when he realized the front of his shirt was wet. He reached up and felt tear tracks still moist on his cheeks, and he realized he must have been crying right along with Sarah and hadn't even realized it.

' _Dieu_ ,' he thought, placing his forehead in his palms, ' _can't stand that I hurt her like that, even if I couldn't have helped it. Henri's right, she's already got a hold of my heart_."

He settled himself on the bed and set his watch, which had survived the river by being waterproof, to wake him up in a few hours and then let himself doze.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed it.
> 
> Next Chap, Remy begins to meet more of the denizens of the mansion.


	5. Acclimation - Afternoon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: X-men is owned by Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox. I do not own X-men, nor am I making a profit from this work of fan-fiction. So please don't sue me! Not that you'd get a whole lot from me anyway. ;)  
> A/N: Here's the next chapter. Please, R&R.

** Chapter 5: Acclimation - Afternoon **

* * *

Bobby hurried out of the room as class ended, trying to catch up with Rogue, who had sat at the back of the room away from most of the other students. "Rogue!" He called after her.

He walked faster, pushing past two other students, and caught up with her. "Rogue, wait up." He said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Please, I just want to talk."

She shrugged his hand off and turned to face him, but he was grateful she actually stayed to listen to him.

"Rogue," he said, once the other students moved past them and the hallway was left deserted. "I just want to say I'm sorry."

Rogue looked at him with a surprised expression, obviously not having expected this from him. "W-what?"

"I'm sorry for everything that's gone on in the past few days. I'm sorry for breaking our time together for homework, and I'm sorry for the stupid things I've said. I'm always opening my big mouth and saying something stupid."

Rogue's lips twisted into a slight grin. "Ya can say that again."

Bobby sighed. "I- Rogue, what you heard the other day, that didn't come out the way I meant it. I don't think you or your powers are useless or that you can't defend yourself. It's just, your power is so different than what most of us have, other than Logan. We can defend ourselves from a distance but you need to be close up for your power to work, and that worries me because it means it's more likely that someone can hurt you, and you can't heal like Logan or phase out like Kitty or turn to metal like Piotr. I know Logan's been teaching you stuff, but that doesn't stop me from being worried about you."

Rogue's eyes softened, and she placed a hand on his arm. "Ah know ya didn' mean it, Bobby, it jus' hurt t'hear what Ah'm always thinkin'. An' Ah'm sorry too, for overreactin' with the whole homework thing an' ev'rythin' afterwards. I feel like I've been such a big, nasty bitch to ya lately."

Bobby tentatively reached out and pulled her into a hug, and whispered to her. "It's okay. I'm pretty sure I deserved everything you dished out to me."

He pulled back and looked down into her warm brown eyes. "Rogue. I was thinking."

"Well, that's a first." She said, her eyes dancing merrily.

"Hey, not nice! I was thinking that we haven't really done anything together since Alkali and I thought it'd be nice if we went on a date or something. I was thinking maybe a picnic some afternoon, just the two of us, out on the grounds."

A smile appeared on Rogue's face. "Ah'd like that. How about tomorrow? Ah've got a session with the Professor in the morning, but the rest of the day Ah've got nothin'."

Bobby smiled. "Tomorrow sounds great. I'll make us lunch and we can spend the afternoon outside."

"Ah think that sounds good. I think we need somethin' like this for us."

Bobby hugged her once more, and let out a deep sigh. He was relieved she had heard him out and forgiven him, and that she still wanted to at least attempt to keep their relationship going.

"I've gotta go now, Rogue. I have to talk to Professor Xavier, but after that I was going to grab lunch with Piotr, Kitty, and Jubes, so if you want to join us, I think we were going to hang out in the living room."

"Alright. Annie wanted some help with somethin' so I'm gonna head down ta the med lab, but Ah don't think it'll take too long."

"Okay, I'll see you in a bit then," Bobby said, and carefully kissed her on the top of the head. He backed up and moved around her down the hall toward Xavier's office.

Rogue felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off her shoulders as the tensions that had built between her and Bobby melted away. She was amazed that he'd taken the initiative and apologized to her, but glad that he was willing to try to keep their relationship going. ' _This'll be our test_ ,' she thought, _'If this doesn't turn out well, I'll end it_.'

She didn't want both of them to be trapped in a relationship that was deteriorating, and didn't want to stay together and end up with a nasty breakup but instead an amicable one where they could remain friends afterwards. She'd seen too many couples in high school in Mississippi that had broken up and never talked to one another, friends of the couple would be forced to choose "sides", and it was something she never wanted to happen to them.

Rogue stuffed her hands in her pockets and walked down the hallway. She punched the call button for the elevator, and took it to the third floor. As she walked toward her room to put her books inside, she saw the person she had been planning to look for.

From one of the rooms at the end of the hall, she saw Remy shuffle out of the doorway. He yawned widely and when he saw her, he quickly put a hand over his mouth to stifle the yawn. She could tell he'd been sleeping from his mussed-up hair and rumpled clothing.

"G'mornin', sleepy-head, Ah was just gonna look for ya," Rogue called down the hall as she opened the door to her room. She tossed her books onto her bed and closed the door again.

Remy strolled casually in her direction. "Bonjour again. You have fun in class?"

Rogue rolled her eyes. "If ya call Physics an' Calc fun, then yeah."

Remy winced. "Guess not den. Glad t'be finished wit' all dat crap."

"Ya already out of college? How old are ya?" Rogue asked in surprise. ' _Does he just look young?_ ' She wondered to herself.

"Twennyone. Went to community college an' got out in under two years 'cuz I did some courses my last year of high school."

"Oh, alright, Ah was pretty sure ya weren't much older than me. Ah'm nineteen, an' this is mah first full year. Ah did some stuff in high school too b'fore mah power came out."

"Dey do college stuff here?"

"Yeah, we take most of our classes here, but some of them are from another college nearby an' we do 'em online."

"Bet dat's pretty nice. Dat way you can take classes wit' people, wit' mutants, dat you know an' dat understand you 'stead of wit' some of de bigots dat are out dere. Hadta deal wit' dat myself a few times. Xavier's got a good t'ing goin' here."

He leaned against the wall next to her, and then asked, "So, y'said you was lookin' for me. Y'miss me already?"

Rogue smiled. "Ah was lookin' for ya 'cuz Annie wanted me ta get ya when Ah got outta class."

"Ah, t'get dese t'ings outta me," he said, touching his abdomen over his bandages.

"Yeah, she said you'd probably be ready for 'em t'come out." Rogue said, calling the elevator once again.

As the elevator traveled downward, Remy jabbed a finger at the Basement Level 2 button. "What's down dere?"

"Um, there's pretty much only the Danger Room which is a place where we usually train with our powers, an' a conference room down there - has Ororo given you a tour yet?"

" _Non_ , she only showed me my room an' den she had t'get to class."

They stepped out of the elevator. "Well, Ah can give ya a tour of the place after Ah eat lunch if ya want."

Remy smiled at her. "Dat'd be nice." He stood at the sliding door of the med lab and extended his arm out toward the entrance, bowing with an exaggerated flourish. "After you," he said.

Rogue smiled and walked past him. Annie, who had heard the door open, walked out of her office. "Thanks for getting him for me Rogue."

She looked over to Remy and gestured at an examination table. "Hop up on there and take your shirt off for me. I think we should at least be able to remove the stitches in your shoulder."

Remy sat on the table and pulled the shirt over his head, and tossed it onto the table beside him. Annie moved up to him and peeled the taped gauze from his skin, revealing his stitches. She looked over both of his wounds, pressing her fingers gently near the edges to check how much they had healed.

She turned her head to Rogue who stood behind her. "Ready to learn how to remove stitches?"

Rogue nodded eagerly and moved forward next to her. Annie grabbed a tweezers and a small scissors from a drawer. "Alright, it's really pretty simple. All you really do is snip the suture on one side of the knot, and then pull on it from the knot side until it comes out. Make sure you pull the knot side first so you aren't yanking the knot through the wound," she said, demonstrating by pulling the suture slightly up with the tweezers, snipping the surgical thread, and smoothly pulling it out. "Just like that."

Remy barely felt even a tugging at his skin, and was actually very impressed at how easily she had done it. ' _Then again, it's usually Henri or me that are yanking them out,_ ' he thought.

Annie passed the scissors and tweezers to Rogue and placed a hand on her back, pushing her closer to Remy. "Now you try."

Rogue let out a breath and moved her face closer to his suture. She pulled it up and placed the scissors near the knot. "Like this?" Rogue asked, looking up at Annie.

Annie leaned closer and moved the scissors to the left. "Right here, as close to the knot as you can. That way if the wound opens a bit, the knot won't get pulled into the skin and you can still pull it out."

Annie placed her hands on either side of the wound, ensuring that if it did open both sides would remain in place. Rogue carefully snipped the suture, and began to pull it from his skin. She didn't realize her hands were shaking with nervousness until she heard Remy hiss in pain as it was pulled completely from him.

She quickly backed away from him. "Ah'm sorry Remy."

She handed the scissors and tweezers back to Annie. "Maybe you should do it. Ah'll just hurt him."

Annie shook her head and pressed the tools back into Rogue's hand. "You're doing fine, Rogue. You're just a little nervous doing this your first time." She said, looking hopefully at Remy for his own encouragement for Rogue.

Rogue reluctantly held the tools and looked up at Remy. He smiled warmly at her. "You can do dis, Rogue. An' b'lieve me, dat hurt a lot less den when I get my _frère_ t'take out stitches from me. He's got g'rilla hands when it comes t'dat."

A weak smile flitted across Rogue's face and she let out another breath. She moved closer once again and looked closely at the last suture. She moved the scissors next to the knot like Annie had shown her, and snipped the suture.

Rogue set down the scissors and moved the tweezers into place. This time she noticed immediately that her hands were still shaking. She glared at them, willing them to still themselves, but they kept shaking, and she let out a sigh of frustration.

She was startled when one of Remy's hands enveloped her gloved hand that held the tweezers. Her eyes darted upward to look at him, and he looked down at her with a grin and squeezed her hand. "Hey, relax. It ain' de end of de world. Jus' a little piece of thread."

She was surprised to see her hand was no longer shaking in his grip. She moved her fingers and grasped the thread with the tweezers and pulled slowly from his skin.

Once it was completely out, Remy slowly released her hand. "See? Tol' ya you could do it. Didn' hurt a bit."

Annie smiled gratefully at Remy over Rogue's shoulder, and mouthed "Thank you," to him.

Annie moved back and placed a hand on Rogue's shoulder. "That was excellent Rogue. I'm going to grab some isopropyl; why don't you remove the sutures in his abdomen while I'm doing that?"

* * *

Bobby walked down the hall of the basement after getting Professor Xavier's approval on a subject for the paper that was due in two weeks in their Ethics class.

He walked the entrance to the Med Lab and looked in through the doors to see if Rogue was still there. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Annie and Rogue next to a man he'd never seen before. ' _Must be that Gambit dude that Kitty was talking about_.' He thought.

He was about to call out to Rogue until he saw the man reach up and cup her hands, and give her a charming grin. He stood frozen, and his only thoughts were, 'this _creep's putting the moves on my girlfriend_.'

He felt jealousy well up in his chest when the man didn't let go of her and squeezed her hand. ' _Who the hell does he think he is, pawing Rogue like that_?' Bobby thought angrily.

Just as Bobby was about to burst into the room, Piotr's earlier comment echoed in his head and stopped him dead: 'Right now a big part of the problem between you two is that you don't think before you open your mouth, Bobby.'

Bobby closed his eyes. He knew Piotr was right and he knew if he ran into the room storming about what he'd seen, he'd ruin everything he'd just worked for to get back with Rogue, and probably end up in another fight. ' _Besides, it looks like she's got scissors in her hand there. Don't think she'd be too happy if I burst in and she accidentally stabbed the guy_ ,' he thought.

After Rogue finished whatever she had been doing on the man's arm, Annie walked away to a cabinet on the other side of the room, and Rogue bent down to what looked like a wound on the man's abdomen.

Bobby chose that moment to interrupt.

"Hey Rogue," Bobby called loudly from the doorway.

Rogue jumped, and looked to the doorway. "Bobby! Don't scare me like that when Ah'm trying to take out stitches!" She said breathlessly.

"Sorry, I was just checking on you and if you were still going to eat lunch with us."

"Um, yeah. Ah'll be done in a bit. Why don' you head on up an' Ah'll meet y'all up there?"

Bobby looked uncertainly at her, and shifted uncomfortably as the man on the table stared at him behind dark, mirrored sunglasses. He was almost certain he was glaring at him. Bobby finally nodded, and turned. "Alright, I'll tell everyone you're coming so they don't eat without you." He called over his shoulder.

Rogue moved back to Remy's abdomen and began to remove the first suture. Remy's momentary disgruntled feelings quickly evaporated, and he found himself having to shift uncomfortably on the table when his body began to react to Rogue's warm breath and gloved hands on his skin. ' _Dieu_ ,' he thought to himself, ' _Not usually this trigger happy. I hardly even know the girl. Guess the fact that she's fricking gorgeous, and breathing on my stomach might have something to do with it, but still.''_

Rogue swatted him on the arm, completely unaware of his discomfort. "Sit still," she commanded, "It's bad enough Ah hurt ya 'cuz my hands were shakin'. Ah don' need you squirmin' all over th'place an' makin' it worse."

Remy clenched his jaw. "Sorry." He breathed a mental sigh of relief when the last stitch was removed and she backed away.

Annie handed Rogue a small bottle of rubbing alcohol and an application pad. "Here, you clean up his shoulder I'll clean the other wound. The last thing we want is germs getting in there, especially when it's closing up so fast.

Remy had cooled down enough to joke when the two swabbed his wounds. "Well, if I'da known dat getting' shot meant I got ta have pretty girls runnin' their hands all over me, I'd've gotten shot ev'ry week. Dat'd be de life"

He was pleased to see that both Rogue and Annie blushed at his statement.

Annie stepped back and looked at him. "Well, if you do that, I'm sure Ororo'll shoot you herself for making her worry."

Remy laughed. "Yeah, she probably would."

Once the alcohol evaporated completely, Annie put new bandages over the wounds. "Now, try not to get these wet. If you do, take them off and put dry ones on, because bacteria love to thrive in warm and wet areas and you'll end up with an infection. Other than that, I'd say you're good to go. From your rate of healing I think you can take those bandages off by tomorrow or the day after at the latest."

Remy nodded and pulled his shirt back over his head. " _Merci beaucoup_ , _ma jolie infirmières_." Remy said, nodding his thanks to both women.

" _De rien_." Rogue said in hesitant French. In high school she'd taken French one year, German another, and Spanish a third year to satisfy the three language credit requirements for graduation, but French had been her Freshman class and she remembered very little of it besides the basics.

Remy grinned widely at her. "Very good."

"Thanks," she said, smiling back. "That's about all Ah know besides things like greetings and countin' to a hundred." She blushed then, "An' of course how t'curse. Ah took French back in ninth grade, for a year."

"Better den nothin'. An' it's always good t'know how t'cuss someone out without them even knowin' it." He replied.

Rogue glanced at the door and then back to Remy. "Ah better get goin' ta lunch. Ya wanna come eat with me an' mah friends, Remy?"

"Sure. Ify'don' t'ink dey'd mind. Be nice to get t'know some more people 'round here."

He started to stand up, but Rogue stood in front of him and placed a hand on his chest. Annie moved back toward her office silently, sensing she should leave the two alone.

"Remy," Rogue said softly, "It's gloomy out an' it's gonna rain soon outside, an' the lights in here aren't very bright. Ah don' think ya need these, do ya?" She asked, reaching up and touching his sunglasses.

Remy's shoulders sank in resignation, and when he made no move to stop her, she slid them from his face and folded them before slipping one arm of the frame behind the collar of her shirt so they hung from her neck. "I'll keep 'em for ya."

Remy looked at her uncertainly, and she patted his shoulder. "Ya don' need ta hide anythin' Remy. We're all mutant's here, an' y'eyes aren' gonna freak us out like they might other people. They'll accept ya no matter how ya look. Heck, we got a little girl that looks like a cat, a kid that can turn into a wolf, an' an acrobat that's got blue skin and a tail. Red'n'black eyes ain' gonna even phase 'em," she said. "Trust me."

"Alrigh'," he said reluctantly, "but if dey do get creeped out, ya gotta give 'em back t'me."

Rogue smiled. "Deal. Now let's go. I'm starved."

She grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the infirmary. She dragged him to the end of the hallway and he followed her up the stairs.

* * *

There were a few students sitting at tables in the kitchen when they entered. Rogue grabbed a loaf of bread and peeled out two slices and set them on a plate. She grabbed a knife and a jar of peanut butter and spread it on the bread.

Remy followed suit with his own sandwich as Rogue spread jelly onto the other slice of bread. Remy opened the cabinet he'd seen Rogue use the other night, and pulled out a bottle of honey, which he drizzled over the peanut butter.

Rogue looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" He asked. "You never eaten peanut butter and honey b'fore?"

Rogue shook her head. "No, never thought of that combination."

"Well, y'should try it. Taste's great. Wanna trade?"

Rogue looked down at her sandwich and back to Remy. "Alright," she said, handing him her plate.

Rogue grabbed a soda from the fridge and tossed one to Remy. She grabbed his arm again and tugged him from the room. He managed to snag two individual bags of chips off of the countertop with his partially free hand that was holding the soda as she pulled him past. "C'mon, we're meetin' in the livin' room." She said, leading him down the hall to the doors he'd heard the television blaring from the night before.

Rogue let go of his arm and pushed the door, which was slightly ajar, open all the way and entered the room. Remy followed closely behind her, and saw that the room had couches and recliner chairs scattered throughout, with a large plasma-screen television against one wall. A half-dozen other people were already in the room.

Several looked up as Rogue entered. The young man he'd seen down in the med lab – Bobby if he remembered correctly what Rogue had said – smiled as Rogue entered, but his smile dimmed when he saw Remy behind her.

"Hey Rogue." He called to her, causing the rest of them to look up.

Rogue stepped to the side and next to Remy. "Hey ev'ryone. Ah'd like ya'll to meet R-Gambit," she said, correcting herself when she remembered her discussion with Ororo about Remy's name.

Remy nodded to the group and set his plate, soda, and chips down on an end-table. Rogue inclined her head to him and he moved closer to her and the others. "This is Kitty," she said, gesturing to a pretty young brunette who put down a sandwich and rose halfway to shake his hand.

Remy took her hand and bent his head over it to hover his lips over her knuckles. " _Bonjour_."

Rogue turned to a young Native American woman, who had her long black hair pulled into two braids, on either side of her head, which hung down her back. "This's Danielle."

Danielle smiled and offered her own hand, blushing when he bent over it as he had to Kitty. "You can call me Dani."

"Nice t'meet you Dani."

A young Chinese-American girl who wore a bright yellow shirt, red leather choker, and golden hoop earrings dangling from her ears was sitting next to Dani and she too offered him her hand. "I'm Jubilee."

Rogue gestured to a young blond haired man who appeared to be one of the youngest of the group. "This here's Sam Guthrie. He's new here too, only been here a few weeks."

Sam smiled widely and shook Gambit's hand. "Y'better not be thinkin' 'bout kissin' my hand too."

Gambit grinned back him. "Non, don' worry 'bout dat. Y'ain' pretty enough."

Sam laughed. "Good point. Nice t'see Rogue an' I ain' the only Southerner's 'round here now."

Gambit saw Rogue roll her eyes at the two of them, trying to hide a grin. She pointed to the tall, dark haired young man he'd met earlier in the morning. "This is –"

"Piotr," Gambit interrupted, giving him a jaunty salute and receiving a friendly nod in return. "We met dis mornin'."

Piotr nodded. "Did you end up finding Ororo? She never came down for breakfast before I went off to class."

"Yeah, found her. She showed me to de room she set up."

The last person, the one he'd seen earlier in the Med Lab moved forward, extending a hand. "I'm Rogue's boyfriend," he said pointedly, "Bobby Drake. Iceman."

Remy quirked an eyebrow, and shook his hand. "Iceman? Why y'called dat? Y'shoot icecubes outta yer eyes or someti'ng?"

Bobby's eyes flashed in irritation and he gripped Remy's hand harder and suddenly the moisture in the air around their hands crystallized into a thin frosty layer on their hands.

Gambit let go and shook the ice crystals from his hand. He nodded to Bobby. "Bet dat's a useful t'ing t'be able t'do. Nice t'meet you, Iceboy."

Rogue touched Remy's shoulder breaking up any further "discussion" between the two. "Ah'm hungry, aren' you guys?"

Sam cleared his throat, having noticed the tension between the two men. "Yeah Rogue. **Most** of us were waiting for you," he said, and shot a mock glare at Kitty who had already eaten most of her lunch.

"Hey, don't look at me like that." She said, and glanced to Rogue. "Sorry, I didn't have any breakfast, and I was starving."

Rogue sat down on a couch a few feet away from Kitty and the other girls, and Remy grabbed his food and sat down next to her. "Naw, that's fine, Kitty. What're you guy's watchin'?" Rogue asked, nodding to the television set which was displaying a commercial for car insurance.

"The news." Jubilee piped up. "There's not really much else on right now."

Remy handed Rogue one of the bags of chips he'd grabbed, and she smiled at him in thanks. Remy popped open his soda and took a sip, sitting back to watch Rogue try her sandwich.

He smiled as she took a bite and her eyes widened. She swallowed her mouthful and looked at him. "Wow, this is actually really good… Gambit. Ah like it."

Piotr looked over at her curiously. "What's that?"

"Oh, he made me a peanut butter and honey sandwich because I've never tried it before. It tastes great…." She paused when she felt something hit her glove, and when she looked down she saw honey seeping out the bottom, drizzling onto her fingers. "Messy though," she said and set down the sandwich to lick what she could from her fingers.

Sam laughed at her attempts. "Ah think ya'll need to keep a spare set of gloves for lunch from now on if y'start eatin' that. Gotta say they're pretty good, but nuthin' c'n beat peanut butter and mayonnaise."

Kitty made a choking sound. "Oh my God, that's disgusting. Please, I just ate, I don't need to even think about that."

"Oh, c'mon, just 'cuz y'don't like mayo doesn't mean y'have ta act like you're gonna barf or somethin'" Sam retorted.

Kitty closed her eyes. "Besides the fact that I hate the smell and taste of mayo, you know I'm a vegetarian, Sam. I don't eat egg products. Please, can we talk about something else?"

Jubilee interrupted. "Since we're talking about food, what do you guys think Ororo's going to make for supper tomorrow? I know it's Professor Summer's turn to take care of it, but she's been doing it for him lately."

Remy leaned forward to look at her on the other couch. "You guys have the teachers here make supper for you ev'ry night?"

Dani shook her head. "Not every night, only Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Each time a different person gets supper for the students."

Remy's eyebrows raised. "Sounds nice."

"It usually is, 'specially not having to worry about it ourselves," Jubilee said.

* * *

As everyone finished eating their lunch, the weather forecast came on, causing Bobby to shush everyone.

An attractive blonde woman was standing in front of the Futurecast, which showed warm temperatures until the end of the weekend.

Bobby smiled, and glanced over to Rogue. ' _Perfect weather for us to spend the afternoon outside_ ,' he thought to himself.

Jubilee set aside her plate and got up, walking over to the couch Remy and Rogue sat at, and sank into the cushions next to Remy.

"So Gambit, tell us something about yourself. What brings you here to the mansion?" She asked, pulling her legs up onto the couch and wrapping her arms around her legs.

Remy swallowed his mouthful and glanced around and noticed that everyone had turned their gazes to him. He cleared his throat and shrugged. "Well, I mainly came here to visit Ororo. We're good friends an' she tol' me I could stop by anytime. I'm checkin' dis place out for a friend of mine dat's got problems controllin' their powers, an' I was kinda t'inking of stayin' around here, at least for a bit."

"You need help with your powers too, or just your friend?"

"Non, I got 'em under control now, took quite a while back when dey popped out though. You guys might not realize it, but I'd say y'all are pretty lucky dat you got a place like dis, where everyone knows what you're going through an' help y'deal with it. Wish dere was more places like dis."

He glanced at each of their faces. "So, I already know Iceboy's powers, what 'bout de rest of ya? What can y'all do?"

Sam was the first to speak up. "Well, Ah've got this blast field thing, a "thermo-chemical energy field" I think Prof Xavier calls it. Ah can pretty much put this energy shield around my body, and blast energy out of my feet enough to fly around. Been workin' with Xavier an' I've been gettin' some control to blast it outta my hands if I really concentrate."

Sam glanced to the side to Piotr who shrugged. "I can turn my body to metal," he said. He squinted and his skin shifted and reformed into a shiny metallic surface.

Remy looked at him in curiosity as he allowed himself to shift back to his flesh-and-blood form. "Can ya move around like dat?"

"Yeah, I pretty much turn into a sort of organic steel. I can move about the same as I do now, maybe just a bit slower because I gain a lot of mass when I turn to metal."

Remy looked to his left at the girls of the group. Kitty smiled at him and then gave him a shock when she moved her hand _through_ the arm of the couch. "I can phase myself through things. I've been working with the professor and learning how to phase other objects and other people with me."

' _Damn,_ ' Remy thought, ' _That'd be the perfect power for a thief like me_.'

He shifted his eyes to Danielle, who looked embarrassed. "Well, my power's not really all that great like any of theirs. I can create illusions that people see. So far all I can do is make illusions of a person's greatest fear."

Jubilee eagerly stretched out her hand, and her fingertips began to glow softly. Rogue quickly reached across Remy and covered her hands up with her own. "No, don't!" She said, sounding frantic.

Jubilee let the glow dissipate in surprise, and Rouge pulled her hands back. "Sorry Jubes, it's just, he's sensitive to bright lights."

Jubilee then looked at him knowingly. "Oh, your eyes, huh? Can you see in the dark or something like that?"

Rogue noticed Remy shift uncomfortably in his seat. "Well, I c'n see better den most people can in low light, but I take a bit t'adjust to bright lights."

Jubilee nodded, also noticing his change in posture. "Well anyway, I can make these little globs of energy and blow them up. Sorta like a really bright firecracker."

Remy looked over to Rogue with a thankful expression on his face. "Well den, I'm glad ya didn' blow one up."

"So Gambit," Jubilee said with a grin, "We showed you ours now you show us yours."

He laughed. "Well, I can–"

He was cut off when a loud * **BAMF** * echoed through the room, coming from a point directly behind Rogue. Everyone jumped at the sound but Remy, unaccustomed to the sound swiftly moved into action. To everyone it appeared that one second he had been sitting on the couch, and the next he was standing next to the couch, turned around to face the noise, with his plate in his hand pulsating with a magenta glow, tensed to throw it at the sudden arrival.

The source of the noise raised his three-fingered hand in a tentative wave and a weak smile. "Er, hello. Sorry to frighten you, I was practicing teleporting to places without seeing them first."

Remy glanced at the others who didn't seem surprised by the blue-skinned man, and lowered his plate, allowing the charge to dissipate. "S'alright. Just the last time I heard a loud bang like dat I got shot."

Rogue stood up next to Remy. "Kurt, this is Gambit. Gambit, this is Kurt Wagner."

Remy nodded to the man, only now noticing a long, pointed tail swishing behind him.

Kurt shook his hand and apologized again. "I should have made sure this room was unoccupied before I teleported."

Rogue shook her head. "That's alright –"

Sam suddenly shushed everyone when something on TV caught his eye. "Hey guys, heads up," he said, grabbing the remote and turning up the volume.

On the bottom of the screen a banner proclaimed "Breaking News", and pictures of a Manhattan, New York neighborhood covered the rest of the screen. It shifted to an aerial view of a street blocked off by barricades and the caved in side of a large building. Remy recognized the entrance he'd blown up immediately and felt a cold clenching in his gut.

The view changed to an attractive young woman with short-cropped black hair standing in front of the barricades. She lifted her microphone to her mouth. _"Hello, this is Trish Tilby reporting for WNBC-4 News. As most of you know, close to two weeks ago, explosions in this quiet New York neighborhood brought police to the scene of what is being called the New York City Massacre."_

" _A long forgotten network of tunnels dating back to the early Cold War era caved in due to the explosions, and inside police uncovered a group of armed men who, police allege, murdered dozens of mutants who were inhabiting the tunnel network. Currently 64 mutants have been confirmed dead, and the bodies of at least two of the armed men have been recovered, and anonymous sources have indicated they found the remains of another person apparently caught in one of the explosions."_

" _Images and information released by the police and medical examiners indicate that the majority of the mutants living in the tunnels suffered from very visible, severe physical deformation, presumably a manifestation of their mutations. Yesterday I talked to Secretary of Mutant Affairs, Dr. Hank McCoy who is a renowned expert on Mutant Genetics and Behavior."_

The picture shifted to a tall, blue-furred beast-like man wearing an expensive suit. He sat in a chair across from Trish Tilby. _"Well Ms. Tilby, I cannot say I am surprised that we would find a group of mutants, such as the ones found in these tunnels, forming small, private societies of their own. As you know, discrimination and violence against mutants is becoming more and more common, and for those who have physical mutations that visually brand them mutants, some deal with it best by removing themselves from the public eye, and banding together with others who understand their plight. In fact, I would expect this sort of thing to become more and more common with this horrible tragedy, unless we as Americans take steps to end this fear and hatred toward the mutant community."_

The image changed back to the reporter standing in front of the barricade. _"We have some new, unconfirmed information from anonymous sources within the New York City Police Department that one of the armed men from the tunnels has given the police information on the incident in exchange for a shorter sentence. Apparently he has claimed that they were all private-contract mercenaries hired by a group called Friends of Humanity, a notorious anti-mutant group that has pressured Washington to pass the Registration Act that has been rejected three times now by Congress."_

" _We have made calls to the Friends of Humanity Headquarters and after several attempts at contact, their PR director made the following statement: 'Friends of Humanity has never been and will never be involved in violence against mutants. We, along with the rest of the American people, only want mutants to register with the government so that their powers are known and police can deal with them if any uses those powers to do harm. This is no different than requiring people to register their guns for example. We are not in any way involved with the tragic deaths of the mutants in New York, and our sympathies go out to any family members of the victims. Murder is a tragic crime no matter what species is involved._ '"

Remy heard Sam whisper, "Yeah, right. They're full of shit."

" _Here at the site of the Massacre, rescue workers are still exploring the tunnels looking for survivors and more dead in areas they have only now been able clear debris to access. The mercenaries in custody are being charged with numerous counts of first-degree murder. With the death penalty declared unconstitutional in New York several years ago, they could be facing multiple sentences of life in prison. The State Attorney General has stated his department will seek the harshest sentences if they are found guilty. Our sources believe that the new development with the unidentified mercenary may lead to the person or persons that hired them for the attack. Back to you Diane."_

The camera shifted to a brunette sitting behind a news desk next to an older man with graying hair. _"Thank you Trish. We now send you to Brian McCormack in the Sport Center….."_

Bobby turned the volume back down and said, "I hope they catch the bastard that hired them. I'd like t'get my hands on him myself." He said, clenching a fist.

"I'm betting it's one of mutant hater groups like that Friends of Humanity." Sam said.

As they debated over who was behind the murders, Remy put on his poker face, not allowing his emotions to spill over and betray him. He felt guilt stabbing at his heart as he thought of all the mutants killed. ' _Sixty-four_ ,' he thought, ' _all of them dead because I wasn't thorough enough checking those assholes out_.'

' _How am I going to tell Stormy that? She'll probably never want to even see my face again if I tell her I basically led them down there_.' His thoughts conflicted. ' _But I can't lie to her. She's my best friend, and she's gonna want to know the whole story sooner or later. She didn't hate me when she found out about all those people that died in the theater when I blew it up, though, so maybe she'll forgive me. Maybe cuss me out for being so fucking stupid. I mean, yeah, I screwed up, but how was I supposed to guess that bastard really hired me to find a mutant hideout._ '

Remy was broken out of his thoughts when Rogue touched his hand. He turned his head in her direction. She looked up at him and he could see concern in her gaze. "Are you alright Remy?" She asked quietly. "You kinda were in your own world there. If ya're not feelin' good we can go see Annie."

He glanced around, startled, when he saw both Bobby and Piotr, as well as Kurt, had left the room, and the others were starting to get up from their seats with their empty dishes in hand.

He looked back at Rogue. "Oui, I'm alright. I was just thinkin' 'bout dat New York City thing, an' it kinda got to me. Sixty-two people. Dat's like killin' most of de mutants here at dis school. Innocent people dat got a freak chance of gettin' some genes dat made dem "different". How could anyone do dat an' look demselves in th'mirror ev'ry mornin'?"

Rogue shook her head. "Ah don't know. Ah guess there's some people that don' have any sort of sense of wrong or right, or they do and just don' care."

Remy ran a hand through his hair, and then reached down to grab his own dishes when he saw that Rogue had taken hers as well.

"Well, nice t'meet you Gambit," Jubilee said, standing near the doorway. "Hope ya stay around. We never have enough cute guys around here," she said, winking at him.

The others bid them goodbye, and soon Remy and Rogue were left alone in the room.

Rogue turned off the television and nudged Remy with her elbow. "You still up for that tour?"

Remy smiled and shoved aside his worries over Storm's possible reactions for later thought. "I t'ink dat sounds great right about now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hope you liked it – getting more into the other students at Xaviers which the movies couldn't really get into with the time constraints and character developments they already had to take care of. Little nod to Trish/Hank there, depending on how things go later on I might actually get a bit into the story.
> 
> Well, next chapter I'm planning will wrap up the day with the tour, dinner, and a convo with Xavier, so it should be a bit shorter.


	6. Acclimation - Evening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: X-men is owned by Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox. I do not own X-men, nor am I making a profit from this work of fan-fiction. So please don't sue me! Not that you'd get a whole lot from me anyway. ;)
> 
> A/N: Thanks for the kudos and reviews. Please, R&R.

**Chapter 6: Acclimation - Evening**

* * *

Jubilee, Kitty, and Danielle left the kitchen as Rogue and Remy began to clean their dishes.

Kitty walked in between the other two, and bumped into Jubilee with her shoulder. "So, what d'you think of Gambit?"

"You mean besides you being right that he's totally gorgeous? Did you see his eyes?"

Danielle nodded. "I know, they're like hypnotizing."

"He seems like a nice guy, too. Usually the hot ones are total dicks, but he's nice." Kitty said.

"I hope he sticks around like he said he's thinking about. We never have enough hotties like that around this place. Heck, there's hardly any guys around this place period, and the only two unattached are Piotr and Sam. I know Professor X was talking about bringing in more students, but it sounded like that wouldn't be until next semester." Jubilee said.

The three stopped at the base of the stairs. "See you two later," Danielle said. "I've got to finish up my paper for Mutant Ethics class."

Jubilee stood next to Kitty. "So," she said slyly, "Bobby looked great today."

"Yeah, I love it when he wears those jeans –" Kitty began to say and then snapped her mouth shut, blushing.

"I knew it!" Jubilee exclaimed. "I **thought** you had the hots for him."

Kitty made a shushing sound and clamped a hand over Jubilee's mouth. She looked around for anyone who might have heard them. "Shut up, Jubes. I don't want you to yell it out to the whole school!"

Jubilee nodded and pulled her hand off her mouth. "Sorry," she whispered. "I've just noticed the two of you staring at each other, and I just wanted to make sure I hadn't lost my eye for romance since I left my old high school. So, tell me about it."

Kitty looked at the ground, embarrassed. "There's not much to tell. We've been flirting a bunch, and I think he really likes me, but neither of us wanna hurt Rogue."

Jubilee pouted. "You mean there's no secret rendezvous with Iceman late at night or anything scandalous like that? Geez, this place is boring compared to back home."

Kitty blushed. "No, nothing like that. We haven't even kissed or anything like that. I'm waiting for him and Rogue to split up."

"Well, I'll be rootin' for ya. I mean, Rogue's one of my best friends and I don't wanna see her get hurt - I just never really saw the whole Rogue/Bobby thing workin' out anyway. They're just too different from each other, and I never really saw much chemistry to keep them going. It'll probably hurt Rogue a bit when they break it off, with her powers and all, but I think it'd be for the best for both of 'em."

Kitty nodded. "I hope you're right."

"C'mon, when have I ever been wrong, Kitty-cat?"

Kitty smiled. "Do you really want me to answer that? C'mon, we should work on our papers too – maybe we can go to the mall or something this weekend if we get it done instead of studying like we did last weekend."

Jubilee nodded. "Good point. I'm gonna run up and get my laptop. See you in the living room!" she called as she jogged up the stairs.

* * *

Remy finished drying his plate when he saw Storm walk into the kitchen. He bent his head to Rogue's and said, "I'll be back f'r that tour, just gimme a sec."

"Hey Remy, I thought you'd be here since you weren't in your room." Storm said.

"Hey, Stormy, sorry I missed havin' lunch with ya. Rogue wanted me t'meet some of her friends an' I ate lunch wit' dem."

Storm gave him a mock frown. "Well, I **guess** I'll forgive you."

Remy grinned. "Lemme make it up to ya – dinner tonight, an' I promise I'll be dere dis time."

"That sounds good, Remy," she said, and put her hand on his shoulder. "And I'm glad you're making some friends around here."

Remy nodded. "Figured if I'm gonna stay, might as well get t'know ev'ryone." He said, noticing a smile come to her face as he said it.

He glanced over to the sink and saw Rogue standing there silently waiting for him, her hands in her pockets. "Rogue was gonna give me de grand tour of dis place, so I'll see ya tonight. Dis time I'll be dere."

Ororo's eyes widened. "I knew I was forgetting something. Sorry, too much on my mind and I forgot to show you around. Well, have fun."

Remy nodded and walked back to Rogue. "Ready?" She asked him.

"Yeah." He said, allowing her to once again lead the way out of the room.

Rogue led him to the end of the hall. "Well, this is our biggest classroom. We usually have the larger class groups in here."

The door opened to a large room with a vaulted ceiling covered in skylights and long rows of fluorescent light strips. Several enormous picture windows made up two walls and framed the landscape outside the mansion. The slate floors had several openings around the room in which trees stood under the skylights. There were numerous long tables situated around an area with a portable whiteboard and blackboard.

"Nice room. Looks almost like it could be on a college campus. The trees're nice touch."

"Yeah, I guess back when they were getting this place set up for school, Ororo saw all the windows and skylights and got Professor Xavier to let her set this up to be a classroom an' an, what's the word?"

Remy shrugged. "Tree farm?" he suggested.

"Well, basically. But there's – Arboretum. That's what it's called. Anyway, she takes care of all the trees here."

Remy nodded. "Yeah, she does have quite a green thumb. I know I got scolded quite a bit when she saw de plants around my apartment when I forgot t'water 'em."

Rogue chuckled and led him back out of the room and pointed to a series of doors on the opposite side of the hall from the kitchen and the living room. "All of those are smaller classrooms. Most of the first floor above us are classrooms too, an' the second and third floor are all bedrooms for the older students and teachers. The younger students stay in an expanded wing off from the library up here."

She opened the double French doors and led him into the library. He was impressed with the size of it. Bookcases lined the walls and a good dozen stood in rows near the center of the room. The cases along the walls were the stereotypical type he'd seen in movies involving large mansions, extending up close to twelve or fifteen feet high with several ladders attached to moveable rails on each section.

Remy walked along one bookcase, his eyes running along the spines of the books. He pulled several out partway to examine them, and raised an eyebrow. "Looks like y'got quite a few first editions here."

Rogue nodded. "Yeah, a bunch of these are all first editions. We also have some really old first editions that only Professor Xavier, Ororo, and a few others can use, over here."

She led him to a bookcase with glass in front of it, and a small lock keeping the hinged pane in place. His thieves mind reeled at the collection sitting behind the glass. "Shit, your prof must really be loaded. _Tale of Two Cities_ first printing? Alexander Pope's _Iliad_ translation? Is dat a first edition _Paradise Lost_?"

Rogue nodded, and Remy shook his head in amazement. "Dis bookcase's probably worth a small country," he said with a grin.

Rogue laughed, "Yeah, just about."

Remy stepped back from the bookcase. "So, what else ya got on dis floor- a safe filled with gold bricks or somet'ing?"

Rogue swatted his shoulder and led him to another doorway. "Nothin' like that, but we have a pretty high tech computer lab in here."

A series of flatscreen computers lined the rows of tables in the room. "We have computer classes here and do our homework and online courses on these." She gestured to two doors in a small open hallway area at the other end of the room. "That door on the right is Professor Xavier's office, and the one on the left goes out to a garage where everyone keeps their cars. And over here," she said, taking him down the hallway, "we're back to the entrance hall."

They stopped at the front door and she pulled his sunglasses from her collar and handed them to him. "Doesn't look like it's raining anymore, so Ah'll show ya around the grounds."

Remy slipped on his glasses once more and they exited the building. They walked around the side of the building to a large open area. "Well, these are the basics- basketball court and swimming pool, area for football and all that. My favorite part of the mansion is over there." Rogue said, pointing to a one story building that stood in the distance.

As they neared the building she said, "The mansion property in the front is pretty close to the main town, but out back here it goes about six or seven miles back into the woods. I think we've got around 10,000 acres here – we even have a decent sized lake out over there," she said, pointing to a glimmer of water visible through a small copse of trees, "so there's a lot of room for hiking around, and," she paused opening the large doors to the building, "horseback riding."

The inside of the building was a large central hall with stalls on either side, most of them containing horses which were whinnying in excitement at the new arrivals.

"We keep th' horses in here for bad weather like this morning, but most of the time they stay out in a big fenced off paddock out back that goes down to the lake. Most of these horses are Professor Xavier's, but Sam actually brought a horse with him, an' Ah think one was a present from a friend of the Professor."

"You like ridin'?" Remy asked.

Rogue nodded. "Ah love it. Ah've ridden since Ah was seven back in Miss'ippi. Ah try ta at least go ridin' twice a week after mah classes or on th'weekend." Remy smiled at her enthusiasm and the way her eyes seemed to glow when she talked about riding. Rogue grabbed his hand. "C'mere, Ah want ya t'meet my fav'rite."

She pulled him over to a stall occupied by a tall white-maned horse with a creamy golden coat. "Her name's Chestnut. She's a palomino. Sweetest horse Ah've ever seen."

"Hey dere," Remy said softly as he ran a hand up and down her broad nose. "Y' a pretty girl."

Chestnut snorted and pushed her head against his hand. Rogue laughed. "She likes ya."

Remy reached into the feeding tray near the door and grabbed a handful of oats. He held his hand out and Chestnut merrily munched at the food. Remy patted her head as she finished eating, and then turned to Rogue. "Well, next time y'go out ridin' you should let me know an' I'll go with ya."

Rogue smiled. "That'd be great. Usually Ah'm stuck ridin' by m'self because Ah'm one of th' only ones that's got any experience. Bobby doesn' even want to learn. Between you an' me Ah think he's 'fraid of horses," Rogue said.

Remy chuckled. "Well, now y'know someone else dat knows how t'ride. So you always go out on y'own? Must get a bit lonely havin' t'do dat all de time."

"Sometimes Sam'll ride with me, but ev'ryone else at th'mansion that's int'rested is gettin' beginner lessons from a guy that comes in every other week. Ah was thinkin' of ridin' maybe Saturday in th' afternoon before it cools off Sunday night."

"Alrigh'. Y'let me know when y'do it an' I'll come along."

Rogue smiled again, and ran her hand along Chestnut's head once more before turning back toward the entrance to the stable. "C'mon, Ah still hafta show you the lower levels of the mansion."

* * *

The curved elevator door slid to the side, allowing them to exit onto the first basement level. Rogue walked to the right to a door at the end of the hall. "In there is something that's called Cerebro. Ah'd show it to ya, but it sounds like it's running."

Remy cocked his head and heard the hum of machinery coming through the door. "What's it do?"

"Well, Cerebro's like this big spherical room, and somethin' with the shape an' the materials an' size make it so it boosts psychic powers. The Professor can use it ta look around the world at ev'ryone, an' can tell which ones are mutants. Since it's on that's prob'bly what he's doin' now. He's been lookin' a lot lately 'cuz he wants ta expand the school and get a bunch more students next fall."

Remy nodded. "So, y'Professor's a psychic? Like readin' minds an' all dat? Guess y'can't use de ol' dog ate my homework excuse at dis place."

Rogue giggled. "Nope, but Ah don't think he'd need t'read your mind t'know y'were lyin' about that."

Rogue turned from the door and led him back down the hall toward the med-lab. "There's a bunch of little rooms down here that we use as storage space – that's what most of those doors are. That room is an exercise room – we've got treadmills, weight machines, an' all that." She said, pointing to the room he'd seen his first night at the Institute. "Then we've got this room here where we keep our uniforms." She said, showing him what basically amounted to a locker room with drawers presumably for spare costumes. Several black leather costumes sat out in plain view, each looking distinctly different than the other.

Remy ran a hand over one and looked at Rogue with a smirk. "Kinky. You guys got a leather fetish or somet'ing?"

Rogue blushed and swatted at him. "Do ya always have ya mind in th'gutter?"

Remy cocked his head and squinted his eyes in thought. He looked back at her after a few moments and nodded. "Yep." He said with a grin.

Rogue shook her head in exasperation and walked back toward the entrance to the room, mumbling something about perverted swamp rats. Remy followed her, laughing.

Rogue walked straight to the other end of the hall and opened a set of double steel doors. Remy stopped laughing and stared at the contents of the room. "Shit."

Rogue laughed at his expression as he stared into the enormous room.

"Shit." Remy said again. "Y'got a **jet**?"

Rogue nodded. "Yep. We actually got a smaller one too out past that one. It's brand new – they decided after our last one almost got blown up that we should at least have some sort of extra one."

Remy walked up to the large, sleek black jet and saw what looked like the same plane only about half the size resting on the hangar floor nearby. He looked around the hangar and then glanced back at Rogue. "How d'you get dis thing out?"

Rogue pointed upward to the vaulted ceiling that stretched nearly thirty feet above them. "We open up th'ceilin'. If ya are ever playing basketball an' hear a siren ya better move it."

Remy shook his head in amazement. "Stormy never tol' me about all of dis. When she said y'had a plane I thought she meant some Cessna or a private jet at de airport, not dis sort of military style stealth jet."

Rogue placed her hand on his arm. "Once you're done drooling over the jet there's one more place I wanna show yah."

He tore his eyes from what any other time he'd probably be planning to steal for a cool fifty million dollars, and followed her from the massive hangar.

At the elevator, she punched the button for the next floor down, and the elevator swiftly dropped them to the next level.

The door opened onto a large room with the same shiny metallic walls of the floor above. An open door in front of them revealed a room with a long oak table with chairs seated around facing a large plasma screen. Rogue saw his gaze and said, "That's our conference room. And this is the control room for the Danger Room."

Remy looked to the other side of the large room and saw several chairs lined up at a series of computer terminals and arrays of control switches. He walked over to the chairs and saw the controls were set below a long, large window overlooking a room that was at least the size of the hangar he had just been in.

"So, what's it do? Looks like a big empty room."

Rogue walked over to the nearest terminal and punched the button by the plasma screen to turn it on and then clicked through a series of screens and options. "It can do just 'bout anything."

She hit a switch next to the terminal and suddenly the room below was filled with war-torn buildings. Soldiers equipped head to toe in body armor marched along the streets, their eyes shifting around the ruins for signs of danger.

Rogue clicked the mouse several times and the scene shifted to a lush, dense jungle and then a room that looked like a scene out of an Indiana Jones movie with arrows whizzing across the room and blades swinging through the air.

Remy whistled. "Holograms? Dat's pretty high tech. So you just go down dere an' fight with dem an' dodge around? I bet it can seem pretty real to your eyes but I'd think it'd be easy knowin' y'can't get hurt."

Rogue nodded. "Well, what you're seeing are holograms. What you aren't seein' is this."

She pressed a button and the hologram dimmed to faint ghostly images. Behind some of the arrows, actual projectiles with blunt heads shot across the room, and thick leather-covered rods swung in the place of some of the blades.

"Some of th' images have actual objects behind them. Ah wouldn't say they're deadly or anythin', but they hurt like hell, so after gettin' hit a few times by those, y'don't wanna mess around an' find out if the image actually has somethin' behind it."

She switched back to the original scene and roughly humanoid shaped objects popped up out of the ground holding weapons in the same position as the soldiers. "When we do somethin' like this they actually shoot wax bullets. With our suits on we don't really get hurt, but they sting like heck – enough t'know we got hit."

Remy nodded, looking impressed at the technology of both the hologram and the physical representation behind it. "You train in here a lot?"

"Yeah, usually at least once a day during th'week. If Annie lets ya, Ah can set up a program for ya ta try out this weekend."

Remy leaned his back against the window. "I'd like dat. Listen, thanks for showin' me 'round de place, Rogue."

"Y'welcome Remy. Ah had fun," she said, smiling. "This's mah first time showin' anyone around, so Ah hope Ah remembered everything ta show ya."

"Y'were great. Not t'mention one of de prettiest tour guide's I've ever had."

She blushed and looked away from him. "Anyway, Ah've gotta go soon an' get some homework done so Ah'm not up till eleven tonight."

Remy nodded. "All right. I been thinkin' I need a shower after ev'ryt'ing de past few days. Prob'bly smell pretty funky right now."

Rogue moved closer to him and crinkled her nose. "A little, yeah. Just make sure yah head down t'Annie an' change yah bandages if yah get them wet. Y'don't wanna get an infection or somethin'."

"Yeah, I'll hafta do dat." He said as they walked back to the elevator. The elevator rose swiftly to the third floor. "See ya later tonight, Remy!" Rogue called as she walked to her room.

Remy stood by the elevator, watching her from behind until she disappeared into her room. He realized he had been staring and smacked himself in the head. "Get it t'gether LeBeau. She's prob'bly plenty happy wit' her boyfriend. She don't need a thief like you tryin' get in her pants." He muttered to himself as he opened his door.

He rolled his eyes, remembering Bobby. _'Don't know how a girl like her could fall for dat 'N Sync reject_.' His mind ran through the afternoon meeting with her friends. ' _For being a couple it's a little weird he didn't bother to come sit by her._ ' He wondered to himself.

Remy shut his eyes, trying to remember everything he'd seen. He'd found that with practice he could focus on an event and remember it with near eidetic recall – something invaluable when casing a job.

As the afternoon in the living room played through his head, he walked to the small bathroom and turned the faucet on the tub to the left and let it run to get hot water flowing. ' _When he wasn't giving me the evil eye he was eyeing up Kitty quite a bit. Trouble in paradise maybe?_ ' he wondered. ' _You might have a chance after all, you old thief.'_ He thought to himself.

His expression dimmed. ' _That's if Stormy doesn't kick me out on my ass when I tell her what happened._ ' He thought, his dread from earlier creeping back. He pulled the pin up on the faucet, and the water sputtered and then began flowing from the showerhead.

He sighed and peeled off his bandages before stepping in to let the scalding water roll over his head as he tried to think of something else.

* * *

Ororo was placing the hot baked potatoes she'd just taken from the oven onto two plates next to the rest of the meal she'd cooked, when Remy entered the kitchen.

"You're just in time, Remy."

He glanced at the full plates and looked back up to Ororo. "Y' didn' hafta make me dinner Stormy. I was gonna make us somet'ing or take y'out to dinner."

"I figured you would want to, but this is your first night here so I wanted to make you a nice dinner."

Remy picked up the plates took them over to a table in the corner. Ororo sat down and he sat across from her. He cut off a piece of chicken breast and forked it into his mouth. "Mm. Dis is really tasty."

Ororo smiled. "Good, I'm glad you like it. It's a mashed-up potato chip breading that I've wanted to try for a while."

"Thanks for makin it, Stormy. Tomorrow I'll hafta make supper."

"Well, actually, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays the staff usually makes supper for everyone, and I was going to fill in for someone who's not feeling very well."

Remy nodded. "I know 'bout dat. Rogue an' her friends were talkin' 'bout how dey get supper an' dat you were prob'bly goin' to make it. How 'bout y' let me do it for ya? Introduce dese kids t' some real Cajun cookin'?"

Ororo shrugged reluctantly. "Well, if you really want to go to the trouble. You'll probably need to head into town to get groceries because I don't think we have a whole lot for you here. I could give you some money -"

Remy broke her off with a laugh. " _Ma seour_ , don' you remember de money ya found? I could buy supper for y'all for weeks an' not make a dent."

Ororo grinned in embarrassment. "Yeah, I wasn't thinking of that. If you want to do it, feel free."

"Y'don't hafta worry 'bout anyt'ing. Now. How many veg'tarian's you got 'round here? Kitty said she's one, but I don' really know anyone else. Dat way I know how much extra I need t'cook for dem."

Ororo glanced to the ceiling, trying to mentally count. "I think we've got four people that are vegetarians or vegans."

"Alright," Remy said, mentally calculating how much he'd need to get for them.

Ororo scraped the last bit of chicken from her plate and sliced open her baked potato. "So, what do you think of this place?"

"I like it here. Definitely cooler den I thought it'd be. When I got more energy I'd like t'get into dat Danger Room t'ing – dat sounds like it could be pretty challenging."

Ororo nodded. "Whenever you want to, just ask me and I'll set something up for you."

She swallowed another spoonful of baked potato, and spoke again. "What about the people here? Who all did you meet today?"

"Well 'sides Annie, I met a bunch of Rogue's friends. Kitty, Jubilee, Dani, Piotr, Sam, an' Iceboy. Don' t'ink I'd get along wit' him too well, but all de rest were nice." He paused. "Rogue got me t'take off my shades an' none of dem got freaked. Not used to dat."

Ororo's eyes softened, and she placed her hand over his. "I think you'll find that a lot here. Everyone knows how it is to have other people freak out either from their appearance or from seeing them use their abilities."

Remy nodded. "Your Professor X has a good dream here."

Ororo smiled. "I know. Actually, speaking of Charles, he wanted to meet you after we ate. I'll take you up to his office when we're done. I already told him what you told me, and he said you're welcome to stay as long as you like."

Remy shook his head, and looked down at his plate and shoveled the last portion of baked potato onto his fork. "Thanks f'r invitin' me, Stormy. Wish I'd taken y'offer sooner. We coulda spent more time t'gether."

Ororo smiled and set her spoon down on her plate. "It's alright Remy. I know how hard it is for you to get away from what you do."

Remy shrugged and placed his own fork on the table. "Well, don't t'ink dat'll be a problem now dat I'm tryin' t'make people t'ink I'm dead."

Ororo nodded and stood to grab her plate and take it to the dishes, but he stood at the same time and grabbed it before her, and took both their plates over to the sink. He was about to turn on the faucet, but she grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the sink. "I'll do that while you're talking to Charles."

Ororo leaned into him and put an arm around his back and rested her head on his shoulder. "Remy," she said quietly, "You know you don't have to stay here just to make me happy. I know you have your own life – you don't need to stop living it because of me."

Remy stopped walking and leaned down, resting his forehead against hers. " _Ma soeur_ , like I said, ev'ryone thinks I'm dead. I'm startin' t'think dat might be de best way t'get out of dat life. Sure, I'll miss some of de excitement before a heist an' things like dat, but maybe it's time f'me to start somethin' new. I ain' just stayin' here t'make y'happy even though I'd like t'do dat – I like it here an' de people here, an' my friend'll want me t'stay too."

Ororo smiled and looked into his eyes. "Okay. I just don't want to make you feel like I want to force you to stay here."

He pulled his head away and put his arm around her shoulders. "C'mon, Stormy, y'know if I don't wanna do somethin' nothin' in the world's gonna make me do it."

Ororo's lips quirked in a smile, and she rubbed her hand through his hair. "Like getting you to actually comb your hair instead of letting it go wild like this?"

He laughed. "Good example. Least I showered before, else you'd be smellin' 'bout four days of river water gunk right now."

Ororo feigned a grateful sigh. "I was wondering what that smell was when I hugged you this morning," she said, shifting her arm to poke him in the side. "Now behave – here's Charles's office."

"He in dere?"

Ororo nodded and moved his arm from her shoulder and gave him a push toward the door. "Yep. Now get in there. And be nice."

Remy gave her a reassuring smile and knocked on the door. Immediately a voice answered. "Come in."

Remy turned the doorknob and pulled the door open. The office was spacious, with hardwood paneling similar to the rest of the mansion covering the walls. Behind a large oak desk sat a distinguished bald man that he recognized instantly. He nearly slapped his forehead for not making the connection between the Charles that Storm always talked about and the famous geneticist Charles Xavier he'd seen on TV numerous times talking about mutants. Now he began to feel a little nervous being in the presence of such a brilliant scientist.

Charles moved his hand near the edge of his desk and the electric motor of his wheelchair whirred as he directed it to move from behind the desk and toward Remy. As he reached him he extended a hand and shook Remy's. "Hello, Gambit, it is very nice to meet you – I'm Charles Xavier."

Remy nodded, and released his hand. "Nice t'meet you too Professor. Actually seen you on TV several times – thought you argued your side the best in your mutation debate on CNN with dat Professor Essex."

Xavier smiled. "Thank you – that was one of the most interesting debates I've had with another geneticist."

Charles gestured at a chair, and Remy sat down. Xavier made no move to go back behind his desk, so Remy turned the chair the rest of the way to face him.

"There's no need to be nervous, Gambit. I don't bite or anything." Charles said, his eyes crinkling in a smile when he saw Remy's leg unconsciously begin to bounce up and down.

Remy looked at him in surprise. "You readin' my mind?" He demanded, not sure he liked the idea that Xavier could comb through his head without him even knowing it.

Charles shook his head. "No, just your body language. I try to avoid reading other people's minds without their consent, but despite that they give off so many extraneous thoughts it is impossible to avoid hearing them. I actually am not even getting any of those from you. In fact, I couldn't read your mind even if I tried."

Remy quirked his eyebrows. "Really? I thought y'were a one of de most powerful telepaths around?"

"You have a rather interesting energy signature around your body that gives off what basically sounds like white noise on a radio to any telepath trying to read your thoughts. I suspect it is connected with your abilities in some way. You're basically completely shielded from telepathy."

Remy nodded thoughtfully. "Well, dat's handy t'know. I guess I don't hafta think a bunch of dirty thoughts when I'm around telepaths anymore."

Charles laughed. "I guess not."

Charles' expression turned more serious. "Ororo tells me you got into some trouble and your employer decided to have you killed. She said you don't think you're in any danger now?"

" _Non_ , dey think I'm dead so dere shouldn't be any danger for de kids here. If dere was I'dve been gone dis mornin'."

Charles relaxed into a smile. "That is good to hear. May I ask what it is you do for a living?"

Remy nodded. "Well, I'm a professional thief." He said, deciding to be honest, knowing that a telepath like Xavier had trained his eye to catch a tell when someone lied to him in case he was unable to read their thoughts.

Charles' eyes widened a bit. "That must be quite an interesting life. Ororo told me you grew up in the 'family business' – I suppose that's what she was talking about?"

" _Oui_. My _père_ is de head of de Theives Guild down in N'awlins. Been a thief since before I c'n remember."

Charles nodded. "What exactly did your employer want you dead for?"

Remy was silent for several moments, and he closed his eyes and sighed. "Alright. I'll tell ya now 'cuz you're prob'bly gonna find out when I tell Stormy. Den y'can tell me if I'm wastin' my time stickin' around here gettin' t'know everyone. I'll understand if y'don't want me 'round de kids here. Just…. Don't tell Stormy – I gotta tell her myself when I work up de nerve to."

Charles looked at him in alarm. "I'm sure it can't be _that_ bad."

Remy just shrugged and looked at him.

Charles nodded reluctantly. "Okay, Gambit – I promise I will not tell Ororo what we talk about in here."

Remy sighed again and rubbed his forehead. "Okay. Few weeks ago, I get dis call from a friend of mine sayin' he heard someone was lookin' for a professional for a bank job. Said dey were offerin' nine hundred grand. Now dat's a nice amount for a consultin' an' scoutin' job – usually only f'r high end bank targets where dey can afford to toss dat much away."

"Anyway, I went an' talked t' de man – he was a little smarmy lookin' wit' horn-rimmed glasses, but den most of de middlemen look a bit slimy. Dey wanted me to check out a way t'get in from underneath de bank – dey'd heard dere was a way in dat not many people remembered an' wanted me t'map it out for dem."

"So, I checked dem out a little an' dey seemed okay – just your typical high-end bank robbers. I-" his voice broke, "I shoulda fuckin' checked dem out better – woulda never taken de job if I did."

"I checked out dis way under de bank dey heard about – took some searchin' but I found an entrance to some tunnels set up in the Cold War."

He saw Charles' eyes begin to show some recognition. "Dere were some people livin' down dere dat I noted on my map so de robbers could avoid dem an' get to de bank without runnin' into dem an' havin' any trouble."

"The tunnels – they weren't looking for a way into the bank, were they?" Charles' asked, though he already knew the answer.

Remy shook his head, looking agitated. "I found out about it when I went t'get de rest of my money – fifty percent after dey got a report from de robbers dat the map was right. Overheard de slimy man talkin' to someone 'bout it. I went back fast as I could, but it was almost over when I got dere."

Remy shook his head, staring at his hands, seeing the blood of every mutant down there on them. He closed his eyes, his hands clenching into fists in his lap, and spoke again sounding anguished. "All those people. Dey were already dead – because of me. Couldn't do nothin' t'stop it. De dead mercs – dat was me tryin' t'get through an' save anyone I could."

"That's why they wanted to kill me when they found out I knew from the mercs. So – dat's it. If y'want me gone, say de word an' just give me enough time t'say goodbye to Stormy an' Rogue b'fore y'call de police.

Remy heard the electric whirr of the wheelchair, and thought that was exactly what Xavier was moving to do. He looked up in surprise when a hand rested on his shoulder. "Gambit – I'm not going to call the police. I'm not going to try to scold you or rage at you for what happened down there. You look like you're feeling more than enough guilt without having anyone lay any more on you. I really don't blame you for feeling that way. But-"

Xavier paused. "I think you are feeling more guilt than you rightly should. There was no way you could know these people weren't out to steal from a bank but rather to massacre a community of mutants. I know from experience you're playing the 'what if' game – 'what if I spent a little more time investigating', 'what if I looked at this place rather than that place', 'What if –what if – what if'. It doesn't change what happened, and it only makes you feel worse about what happened. You know as well as I do that if you hadn't taken the job they would have found someone else to do it, and perhaps they would have been delayed a few days, but it still would have happened."

Remy sighed and nodded. "I know I'm beatin' myself up over it when dere was probably no way I coulda known. I just can't help it. I don't know how to stop waking up in de middle of de night after dreamin' 'bout all of dem. Sometimes they're jus' layin' in piles of bodies, other times their talkin' to me, askin' why I did it to dem. Will dat ever go away?" He asked, looking into Charles' eyes.

Charles squeezed his shoulder firmly. "Eventually. The guilt never goes away completely, but the dreams eventually end. I've never told any of my X-men this, but I taught a small group of students years before them. They were so young – as young as Rogue – and so brilliant. Their abilities were amazing and I trained them to use them. I was so damned sure of myself and my training of them, and they knew how I felt. Because of that arrogance, they got into a situation that neither they, nor I could handle, and they all died. Every single one of them. I felt their deaths over our psychic bond and each one felt like I was dying myself. I blamed myself for years and played the same 'what if' game as you are playing in your own mind. I had the same sort of dreams for years. It wasn't until I finally opened up to a close friend that I started to finally get over the guilt. Because of her help I finally started trying to make my dream for mutant-kind a reality, and started the X-men despite my reservations that the same thing would happen once again. I always fear that every time I send them out on a mission, that I am sending them to the same fate as the others."

Remy looked at him gratefully. "Thanks for tellin' me dat. Really needed t'hear it. Must be hard t'talk about for you."

Charles nodded wearily. "It is. In fact you are only the second person I've told about it." He paused and looked at Remy. "Gambit-"

Remy cut him off. "Remy. My real name's Remy." He said.

Charles smiled. "Remy. You need to tell Ororo this. Don't try to hide it from her."

Remy nodded. "I know. I gotta tell her soon – I just been dreadin' how she'll react."

"I know – that's why it took me years before I talked about what happened. My advice is – don't wait. Even though my friend helped me out, it took a long time for her to trust me again because I kept it from her for so long."

"Okay." Remy said.

"Now, as to kicking you out, I won't be doing that. You are still welcome to stay here for as long as you like. I don't hold what happened against you, and I trust Ororo's opinion of you. I am always willing to give others a chance to start over here – start something new and make a change in their lives. I do have some questions about what happened if you don't mind talking more about it."

Remy shrugged.

"The man behind it – the man that hired you. Is he a member of the Friends of Humanity?"

"Y'mean like de news was sayin' dis afternoon? I dunno. Never really found who he worked for. But given some of de things I seen FOH gettin' up to over de past few years – de things y' only see in de criminal scene – I'd bet he was a member. Den again, he could be part of another mutant hate group too."

Xavier shook his head. "Alright – I just wanted to make sure whether you knew who he was or not. I need to ask – was anyone still alive down there when you got there?"

Remy looked grimly at him. "Only a few. I heard screams echoin' through the tunnels an' dem dyin' off when dey got shot. Only one was alive when I got t'the leader of the mercs. He was gettin' ready t'cut her up when I got dere. Killed him first, an' took her wit' me. She's de main reason I came here. She's a little girl, maybe nine or ten, an' she's got trouble controllin' her mutation. Stormy tol' me 'bout dis place an' I thought she could get some help here."

Charles' eyes warmed. "Well, she's certainly welcome here as well. I'll do my best to help her with her powers. It may also be helpful for her to go through some therapy after witnessing what happened down there. In fact, we have another little girl who managed to escape right here at the Institute and I'm having sessions with her – helping her deal with what happened."

Remy looked up. "Sally?"

Charles looked at him with surprise. "Yes, that's her name. You know her?"

" _Non_ , but she was a friend of Sarah's. We heard on de radios another girl escaped, an' Sarah tol' me who it was."

Charles smiled. "Well, that is excellent news. I think being with a friend would do wonders for them both."

Remy nodded. "Probably. I was thinkin' of bringin' Sarah here sometime next week if dat's not too early for you t'set somet'ing up for her."

Charles shook his head. "I'm sure we can get things ready for her over this weekend."

"Dat'd be great. Now what 'bout rent? What'll I owe y' for Sarah an' me t'stay here?"

Xavier raised a hand. "I don't require anyone to pay to stay here. If they want to I welcome the donation, but don't feel that you are required to pay me. Ororo said you were thinking of joining the X-men and I extend my own invitation to you as well. I do think that it may be best if they know everything before you join, but that will be up to you and Storm."

When Remy nodded, he continued. "I do typically ask that those not attending the school for education to help out in some way. Right now I don't really have much for you to do – perhaps help us upgrade our security system? I think your experience could be quite helpful there – especially with the way you bypassed it without too much trouble when you got here."

Remy grinned. " _Oui_ , I think I c'n help y'with dat. Whatever company y'got to set it up didn't do dat great. Once I'm through wit' it, nobody'll get in without y'knowin' about it."

"I'll talk with you more about that this weekend – I'll get Logan to show you the central part of the system and we can go from there. Now, this fall semester I am planning on expanding the student body here."

Remy nodded. "Yeah, Rogue was sayin' you been lookin' wit' dat Cerebro thing for mutants t'get t'come to de school."

Charles nodded. "Yes, right now I'm hopeful we may have as many as fifty to a hundred new students. Unfortunately I'm also looking for new teachers to teach them. Perhaps if you are still around you might consider teaching?"

Remy laughed, thinking Charles was having him on, but it died when he realized he was serious. "Me? A teacher? What would I teach 'em – Lock-picking 101?"

Charles chuckled. "No, I'm not sure what you're good at, but maybe by then we could figure out something for you. Perhaps a French class?"

Remy's expression froze as he thought about the idea. He finally shrugged. "Maybe. I guess we'll see."

"I'd like you to think about it. Perhaps I'm placing all of this on you too quickly – I'm very eager for our expansion. Maybe getting a bit of experience would help you make up your mind. As it is right now one of the X-men is grieving over the death of his fiancée about a month ago, and we're having trouble filling in for his classes. Maybe you could try a few and see if it might be something that interests you. It woudn't be anything too difficult – typically Ororo will fill in for his class and needs people to take care of Physical Education classes, and sometimes for his shop class out in the garage."

Remy looked down at his lap for a minute and looked up with a slight smile on his face. "Alright. No promises 'bout dis fall, but I'll at least help y'guys out wit' fillin' in. Stormy'd be houndin' me if I didn't help you anyway."

Charles laughed. "I'm sure she would. When she's determined about something she can be quite convincing. She spent nearly a day listing off reasons I should trust you, even after I told her I trusted her judgment about you."

"Dat's de Stormy I know."

Charles leaned back in his chair. "Well, I think that was all I wanted to speak to you about, so you're free to go now. Remember – talk to Ororo. I guarantee it will help you."

Remy nodded and rose from his chair. "Okay, I'll talk wit' her by de end of de weekend. And, Professor – thanks for trustin' me. I won't let y'down."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you told me the truth. And you can call me Charles."

Remy nodded and turned to leave.

"Oh, and Remy….." he said, causing him to turn back around. "I was very pleased to hear from Ororo that you've befriended Rogue. She's had such a hard time dealing with her mutation and how others treat her when they find out what she can do. She really needs friends who don't care what her mutation is. I passed her in the hall today and I must say she seemed the happiest she's been in months, and I think you're to thank for that."

Remy smiled. "No problem… Charles," he said. "She's a great girl. She don' deserve de garbage she gets from people 'bout her powers. I know you been workin' wit' her on her powers, but I offered her my help too. Had de same control problems wit' my powers an' couldn' touch anythin' or anyone without being worried 'bout blowin' dem to bits."

Charles looked grateful. "That would be wonderful if you could help her. She's one of the most intriguing mutants I've met and I've been at a loss of how to help her with her complete lack of control over her abilities. If you had similar problems with touching you may very well be able to help her more than me – even if it is just having someone to confide in that knows how she feels."

"Well, now dat I know I c'n stay here I'll see what I c'n do t'help her."

Charles smiled. "Have a good evening, Remy."

"You too, Charles." Remy said, closing the door behind him.

* * *

As the door shut, Charles moved his hand on the controls and guided his wheelchair back behind his desk. He rubbed his forehead, hoping he'd made the right decision with Remy. ' _He reminds me so much of myself.'_ He thought. ' _And Logan_. _He's just a young man who had the misfortune of being raised in the environment he was placed in._ '

He shook his head, still surprised at how he'd opened up to the young man about his own mistakes and how he'd dealt with it. Remy's experience and remorse had struck a cord within him, and he'd felt he needed to reassure him that even someone like himself – someone that Ororo and the others had great respect for – could make a mistake that led to tragedy.

He reached into his desk and pulled out a faded color picture. In it Charles sat in his wheelchair with his four smiling students surrounding him. A young blond girl had her arm tossed around his shoulder, as did a younger Chinese girl. Next to her stood a pale-skinned, boy with an almost alien appearance, and next to the blond girl stood a tall, brown haired young man goofing off with a glowing aura of energy encircling his fist, which stretched out behind the group, and popped up behind the blond, making rabbit ears above her head.

Charles rubbed a thumb over the picture with a sad smile on his face, and then placed it facedown back in the drawer. He picked up his phone and dialed a number.

It was picked up after several rings. "Moira? It's Charles….. No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to talk to someone…. Well, you've been after me for years to do it, and I finally talked to someone else today about what happened. It felt good, but all those memories are rushing back and I just – I needed to talk to you…."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hope it was worth the wait. When I originally planned it I thought it'd be a short filler, but it ended up being my second longest chapter. Bunch of nods to the comics in this one – how many can you guys catch? :D
> 
> Anyway, next chap won't (probably) have much Romy – in fact it will have Rogue and Bobby's date – but I promise the chapter after that'll have a bunch. So – Rogue/Bobby date, a Louisiana dinner, some Logan, and some thieving shenanigans from our favorite Cajun next chap.


	7. Jealousy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: X-men is owned by Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox. I do not own X-men, nor am I making a profit from this work of fan-fiction. So don't sue me! Not that you'd get a whole lot from me anyway ;)
> 
> A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, and on with the chapter!

An incessant ringing seeped its way into Remy's consciousness and pulled him out of his sleep. He sighed and raised his head, trying to locate the source of the noise, mainly so he could toss a charged card at it to make it stop. He jerked upright when he realized it was the phone in his room. He grabbed the handset and turned it on. "H'lo?" he said blearily into the mouthpiece.

"Remy!" Sarah's soft voice rang from the ear piece.

"Sarah. Somet'ing wrong? Why you callin' dis early?"

He heard Sarah laugh on the other end. "You told me to call you at this time, silly! Not my fault you're bein' a sleepyhead again."

Remy opened an eye and squinted until the face of his watch came into focus and he saw it was already seven-thirty in the morning. He grunted. "Hm, guess you're right, _petite_. Forgot t'set my alarm."

"Well, I'm glad ya answered. That was the second time I tried calling you."

"Really? Sorry, _petite_. Had some trouble sleepin' last night an' didn't get much rest."

Remy sat up and rubbed his eyes. "How you doin'? Had breakfast yet?"

"Yeah. Don't tell Henri this, but you're a lot better cook than he is."

Remy chuckled. "Yeah, he never was too good at cookin'."

Remy stood up, stretching his back, and grabbed his sunglasses. He slid them on and carried the phone to the balcony door. He slid the door open and shuffled out onto the balcony. The sun had begun to rise above the trees, but the air was still cool, and he breathed in deeply.

"Remy?"

"Yeah, _petite_?"

"Are you feelin' better?"

His brows knitted in confusion. "Better?"

"Yeah, you didn't sound normal yesterday. You sounded like you did down in the tunnels."

Remy froze. 'Dieu _, this girl is good at reading people_.' He thought to himself.

"Yeah, I'm feelin' better," he admitted, "how'd you know?" he asked.

"I dunno – I can just tell somethin' was wrong. You sounded a little different like when you got shot by that man. You got shot again, didn't ya?" She asked, sounding concerned.

Remy sighed and leaned his elbows against the balcony railing. "Yeah Sarah. Dat was why I didn't call you guys before – dat was what I was takin' care of. But don' worry 'bout me – I'm healed up an' good as new."

There was silence on the other end for nearly half a minute before Sarah spoke. "Remy?" She said with a shaking voice. "You don't hafta keep helpin' me. Y'can just take me to an orphanage or somethin', so you don't keep gettin' hurt 'cuz of me. I- I'd understand if y'want to."

Remy closed his eyes. He knew where her insecurities about him leaving her or not wanting her came from – her fathers abandonment of her for being a mutant, and the recent slaughtering of everyone she knew down in the tunnels: likely perceived as another abandonment.

"No, Sarah. Don' even think dat. I been shot nearly a dozen times helping out Henri an' I ain' abandoned de old swamprat yet – I ain' gonna leave you either. None of me gettin' shot is your fault, y'hear?"

He heard her take a deep breath. "Okay, Remy."

She was silent again for a few moments. "Do you like the school?" She asked him.

He knew she still didn't accept that he would want to take care of her and knew it would come up again, but he didn't want to press her on the subject. ' _Maybe after Xavier has some therapy sessions with her she'll be able to get over that asshole abandoning her_.' He thought to himself.

He shook his head. "Yeah, Sarah. Dis place looks like a great school. I think you'll like it here."

"Didya talk to the principal guy yet?"

"Yeah, just talked to him last night. Sounds like he thinks he'll be able to help you."

"Really?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

" _Oui_ , dere's people here wit' all sorts of mutations an' dey all are gettin' helped here. De Professor said dat he'd set up a room for you by de end of de weekend and den y'can stay here."

"Are- are you comin' back soon?"

"Yeah, Sarah. I'm plannin' on headin' back t'pick you up on Monday or Tuesday, alright?"

He heard a bit more confidence in her voice. "Alright, Remy."

"Well, I should get goin', _ma mignonne_. I gotta take a shower an' get some breakfast before I head into town today."

"Alright, Remy. I'll call again tomorrow."

"Bye, Sarah." He heard her end of the line click off, and he thumbed the power button on his own phone.

Remy walked back inside, closed the balcony door, and replaced the handset. He walked to the bathroom and turned on the shower. As the water heated he ran a hand over his face and looked in the mirror at the shaggy growth on his face after several days of not shaving. ' _Razor_ ,' he thought, making mental note to get one in town. _'Stormy'll be on my case if I don't shave this_.' He saw steam begin to rise behind him in the mirror, and turned to enter the shower.

 

* * *

 

"Good morning, Rogue, have a seat." Charles greeted the young southern girl. She was wearing a thin, long-sleeved shirt and gloves that extended up her arms under the shirt, as well as a thin, sheer scarf around her neck.

Rogue walked further into the room and sat down in a chair across from Xavier. "Good morning, Professor."

"Well, let's get started. I'm sure you're anxious to get done and head off on your date with Bobby."

She glanced at him with surprise. "How-" she began, and then shook her head. "Never mind – stupid question."

Charles chuckled. "I ate breakfast with Bobby this morning and that was about the only thing going through his head the whole morning."

He folded his hands. "Now, I've been thinking about how to focus on your touch. I think that may be the key to helping you gain control over your abilities. I had an idea and I'd like to test it out. All I need you to do is relax and let me take a look in your mind."

Rogue nodded and sat back in the chair, as Xavier placed a hand on her arm and closed his eyes. He sat completely motionless for nearly twenty minutes, and as Rogue was starting to shift anxiously in her chair, he opened his eyes and let go of her arm.

A frown briefly flashed across his face, and he looked Rogue in the eyes. "I'm not entirely sure, but I believe I may have found one of the major sources for your lack of control. Once Ororo mentioned her friend had a touch based ability, I began to wonder if that was the cause of your problem. The area of your brain that handles tactile sensations, and the part that processes emotions seem to be linked together with your mutant genes."

"A section of your mind there is very tightly locked up. From what I could gather, it locked up the first time your abilities triggered. The experience was so traumatic that your mind locked up to protect itself. I think your fear of what happened and the mental trauma have a large influence over keeping your control locked away."

He looked somewhat sadly at her. "As far as psychic therapy goes, we may be able, someday, to peel back that lockdown and give you some control; but from what I saw, and from my experience, I'm afraid it could be years, even a decade, before we could see any significant development. I'm sorry, Rogue." He said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Rogue looked down, her hair falling forward and obscuring her face. She looked back up with glistening eyes. "Ah understand, Professor. Thanks for telling me. Ah- Ah guess Ah kinda already knew an' just didn't wanna accept it. Ah never felt like Ah was gettin' anywhere with the things we were tryin'."

Charles nodded. "I was starting to get that feeling as well, but I'd hoped that today we might be able to get somewhere. Unfortunately it appears we won't."

"At least we know what is causin' it now," Rogue said, trying to sound optimistic.

Charles patted her shoulder. "That's the spirit. I'd still like to have these sessions to start working on your block and perhaps discover another way to get past it."

Rogue smiled. "Alright."

Charles pulled his hand from her shoulder and folded his hands in his lap. "I finally got the chance to talk to Mister LeBeau last night."

Rogue looked up at him curiously.

"Quite a nice young man. We discussed him staying here and it appears he would like to stay here at least for the foreseeable future."

"Really?" Rogue asked, her eyes lighting up.

Charles hid a grin. "From what he told me, yes. He mentioned he'd offered to help you with your powers."

Rogue nodded. "Yeah. Since he had trouble controlling them too, he though he could help me." A frown creased her face. "But now, will he really be able to help me?"

Charles nodded. "I believe he may be able to help you far better than I can and I suggest you take any help he offers. From what Ororo told me he had a similar traumatic experience when his powers developed, and he overcame it after a few years. Perhaps you'll be able to break free of your own with his help."

Rogue smiled, relieved that he believed Remy could still help her. "Alright."

Charles leaned back in his chair. "Well, I won't keep you from your lunch. Go on and enjoy yourself. I'll see you tonight at dinner. From what Ororo told me, it will be quite a treat."

 

* * *

 

Remy walked through the corridor of the third floor and down the steps to the next floor. He checked his watch and saw it was almost noon. He patted his pockets to make sure he had remembered everything he wanted to take into town. _'Now I just have to find Stormy and get her to let me use her car or get a ride from someone else,_ ' he thought to himself. _'I'll have to see if Rogue's got anymore classes or if she'd like to head out and get some lunch somewhere away from the mansion_.'

As he walked down the first floor corridor he began to pass students of various ages, all giving him curious stares and looks, which he ignored. 'Class must have just gotten out,' he thought as he passed more students on the staircase. His eyes lit up when he saw a familiar person climbing the stairs, her flashy hoop earrings standing out from the bottom of the staircase.

She glanced up and smiled. "Hey Gambit, how's it goin'?"

" _Bonjour_ , Jubilee. I been alright – ain't been much to do today."

"Lucky." She said enviously. "I've had classes and homework all morning. I'm finally off on a break now. What're you up to?"

"Actually, I was wonderin' if you knew where Storm or Rogue were."

"Professor Munroe just started teaching a class with one of the lower grades I think. And Rogue's off in the kitchen with Bobby gettin' ready for their 'date'." Jubilee said, throwing her fingers up in quotes.

Remy felt like his stomach had decided to drop a few hundred feet into the earth. "Date?" he asked.

"Yeah, I guess he's trying to make up with her – they've been having a bunch of arguments lately. He's taking her out on the grounds for some sort of picnic he's got all planned. A little too romantic for him to have thought up himself if you ask me, but Rogue seemed pretty glad he's trying to make things up." Jubilee said. _'Poor Kitty_ ,' she thought to herself remembering the glum expression that came over her face when she found out.

"Oh, okay." Remy said, slipping his hands into his pockets.

"Why d'you ask?" Jubilee asked him.

Remy shrugged. "I was just goin' into town an' wanted t'borrow Stormy's car, an' I wondered if Rogue would wanna get some lunch or somet'ing."

"Well, I'd offer to go with you, but I've gotta grab something from my room, eat quick an' head back to class." Jubilee said.

Remy nodded and flashed her a small smile. "Well den, I won' keep ya."

"See ya!" Jubilee said as she walked away. She turned when she reached the top of the stairs and watched Remy walk away almost dejectedly. She felt the gears in her head begin to turn, and then everything clicked into place. _'He's_ _ **so**_ _got the hots for Rogue_!' she thought, almost giggling aloud. _'He looked like I kicked his puppy when I told him Bobby was taking Rogue out_.' She shook her head. _'Kitty might not have to wait as long as she thinks - if I was Rogue I'd be dropping Bobby in a flash if a hottie like Remy wanted me_.' She grinned to herself, amused by her recent discoveries of what amounted to two love triangles in the making at the school. "Maybe this place is more like school back home than I thought," she whispered to herself.

 

* * *

 

Logan trudged out the back door of the mansion and sniffed the air, picking up the now familiar scent of the Cajun that had come into their lives several days before. His eyes scanned the grounds and he spotted him sitting on a bench near the basketball court.

Logan put his hands in his pockets and took a deep breath before moving across the lawn in his direction, trying to come up with some sort of conversation starter. He remembered the conversation he'd had the previous night with Ororo.

_"Logan, I have a favor to ask you."_

_Logan looked up from his steak to Ororo who stood next to his table. "Yeah? Whatcha need, 'Ro?"_

_"I'd – well, I'd like you to talk to Gambit. I'd like you to try to befriend him – get to know him."_

_Logan raised his eyebrows. "What's the matter, kid ain't gettin' along with anyone?"_

_"No, it's not that, Logan. He's already become pretty close friends with Rogue and met some of her friends already. I just – you're one of my best friends, and so is he, and I'd like you to at least know each other, and hopefully get along with each other."_

" _I'm hardly a people person, Ro. You know that. I tend to rub people the wrong way. That's why these come in handy so often," he said, flexing his hand in which his adamantium blades were sheathed._

_"I know you're a little... blunt and many people don't like that, but I'd like you to at least try to get to know him. For me."_

_Logan reluctantly nodded. "Alright, I'll talk to the kid. Not makin' any promises though."_

_Ororo leaned down and hugged him firmly, a large smile on her face, making him feel a strange gladness he'd agreed to talk to Gambit. "Thank you Logan." she said, happily. "And – I think you'll like him if you get to know him."_

Logan moved closer to the bench and saw Ororo's friend take a drag on a cigarette, closing his eyes for a few seconds before tilted his head to the side, exhaling a stream of smoke out of the corner of his mouth.

He looked up when Logan's shadow loomed across his seat. "Hey kid. Mind some company?"

He shook his head. " _Non_. Y'can sit if y'want."

Logan settled on the bench next to him. Gambit reached into a pocket and snapped open a slim case. He tapped out the end of a cigarette and held it out to him. "Want one?"

Logan sniffed the air, catching a sweet, almost cinnamon smell lingering from Remy's last drag, and glanced at the black paper of the cigarette. He reached out and pulled it from the case. "Djarum?" He asked, impressed.

Gambit nodded and took another drag.

Logan tapped it, bringing the tobacco toward the end. Djarum Black was made by an Indonesian company and was unique in its inclusion of various flavored and scented cloves included in the tobacco, giving it a distinct aroma. ' _Kid's got good taste_ ,' Logan thought.

Logan grunted. "Usually a cigar man, but these I like. Got a light?" he asked, putting it to his lips.

Gambit reached out and tapped the end with his finger, and it glowed slightly before it puffed and ignited. Logan nodded his thanks.

They were both silent for nearly a minute before Remy spoke up. "So, M'sieu Claws - "

Logan broke him off and extended a hand. "It's Logan."

Remy shook his hand. "Gambit."

Logan sighed. "Wanted t'say sorry," he said gruffly, "about the whole thing up in Storm's room. Wouldn'ta beaten the crap outta you if I knew you were hurt like you were."

Remy shook his head. "Don' worry 'bout it. If I'd come in an' heard a girl scream an' saw someone on top of her I'd've done de same t'ing."

Logan nodded. "So what's your story, Cajun?"

Remy shrugged. "From Louisiana, obviously. Met Stormy a few years ago an' she said I could come here an' stay whenever I wanted to."

"What d'you do for a living?"

Remy smiled. "I'm – I guess you could say I'm an art an' gem dealer."

Logan snorted. "Don't lie to me, Cajun." He tapped his nose. "I c'n smell if somone's lyin' t'me."

Remy's smile faltered. "Fair enough." He sighed. "I'm a professional thief."

Logan's eyebrows rose. "Really."

Remy nodded. "Yep, part of a group called de T'ieves Guild."

Logan grunted. "Actually met someone once who was part of the Guild. You know an' old-timer named Jean-Luc?"

Remy's cigarette nearly dropped from his mouth with surprise. " _Oui_ ," he said, "he's my _père._ Real name's Remy LeBeau."

Logan chuckled. "Damn small world. I met Jean-Luc years ago – actually helped him outta a bit of trouble an' he treated me to a nice dinner with his wife, Marie. She was pregnant then – guess that was you?"

" _Non_ , dat woulda been Henri. Jean-Luc adopted me."

Logan nodded. "Yeah, I was gonna say, that'd make you about thirty, an' you don't look even near it. So how's that old swamp-rat doin'?"

"He's doin' pretty well for hisself. He's actually de Guildmaster now."

"Good for him. Shoulda known – he was always pretty ambitious back then," Logan said, a small smile on his face.

Logan looked over to Remy. "So how'd a thief like you meet up with someone like Ororo?"

"I was doin' a job, an' I met her. She'd got amnesia an' couldn't remember much. I couldn' just leave her wanderin' around so I took her wit' me an' she stayed wit' me, even helped me with a few jobs, 'till she got her memory back."

Logan shook his head. "'Ro as a thief. Who woulda guessed." He mused.

Remy chuckled. "She was actually pretty damn good, too. Sneakiest woman I ever seen. Found out she was already a pickpocket, an' I hadta check my wallet all de time."

Logan laughed. "You plannin' on stickin' around? I know 'Ro hasn't shut up 'bout you an' how much she wants you to stay."

Remy nodded. "Yeah, I t'ink I'll stick around. I like it here."

"Good. 'Ro will be happy t'hear that." Logan said.

Logan glanced over to him. "So what'd you do to make someone go ta the trouble of hirin' a sniper to take you out?"

Remy's jaw clenched for a moment. "Got involved wit' de wrong people dat didn' want t'leave any loose ends from de job dey hired me t'do."

Logan knew he wasn't telling the full story, but he could tell Remy didn't want to get further into it, so he didn't press him.

They sat in silence for several minutes, and Logan noticed Remy's gaze drifting constantly toward a small group of trees near the edge of the forest. He glanced there himself and saw Rogue and Bobby sitting on a blanket, eating off of paper plates. He watched Bobby slowly slip his arm around Rogue's shoulders.

Logan saw Remy reach down and jab the butt of his cigarette into the slab of cement beneath the bench to extinguish it. He couldn't help a grin when he caught a scent from him. "Jealous?"

Remy looked up, surprised. "What?"

Logan tilted his head toward the pair in the distance. "You jealous? You sure smell it."

Remy let out a frustrated sigh. "Maybe," he said tersely. "Dat a problem?"

Logan chuckled. "Calm down, Cajun. Didn't say it was a problem." He said, and then looked seriously at Remy. ""Ro said you an' Rogue're gettin' friendly. Now that I talked t'you, found out Jean-Luc raised ya, I don't mind that much. You hurt her, though…" Logan trailed off, and let the adamantium claws on one hand slide partway through the skin of his hand for Remy to see. He remembered wanting to give Bobby a little scare earlier that week when he found out about their fights.

Remy nodded firmly. "Got it."

"You really like her?" Logan asked.

" _Oui_ ," Remy breathed. "Been wit' an' met a lotta girls over de years, but I don' t'ink I ever felt quite like dis before."

Logan nodded in understanding, thinking sadly of Jean. "Know what you mean, kid. My advice? Let her know, an' let her choose. Don't usually end happy if y'force it."

Remy looked at him appreciatively. "Thanks. I'm gonna see if Stormy's outta class yet. Don' t'ink I can stomach watchin' dis anymore."

Logan laughed. "Don't blame you. Well, I don't think 'Ro's gonna be done for another hour or so."

"Damn," Remy said. "I wanted t'get her to gimme a ride to town."

"How'd you get here?"

"Walked. Made it most of de way here on my fav'rite bike, but dat's trashed an' at de bottom of de river after I got shot."

Logan grimaced. "Damn, that sucks. Well, you can borrow one of the cars over in our garage. Most people won't mind if you borrow theirs, long as you bring it back in one piece. Just keep your hands off the Lowrider – she's mine."

Remy nodded and stood up from the bench, taking one last glance in Rogue's direction. "Alright, thanks. See you 'round, Logan."

"Later, Cajun. If y'talk to your dad, tell him I said hi."

Logan stubbed out his cigarette, and leaned back on the bench. He'd almost been dreading talking to Remy, worried he'd never be able to get along with him for Ororo, but he'd been pleasantly surprised. ' _Kid reminds me of a younger version of me_ ,' Logan thought to himself.

In fact, the intense jealousy he'd sensed coming from Remy made him think of when he'd come to the Mansion and met Jean, and subsequently Scott. ' _Damn sure hope the kid has better luck than I did_ ,' he thought, his hand clenching unconsciously over the pain Jean's death still caused him.

He glanced over at Bobby and Rogue. He'd seen the strain in their relationship ever since he'd come back and she'd mentioned it to him. He'd been unsure about the two of them even before Alkali and the attack on the mansion, but he'd grown to respect Bobby even though he'd rubbed Logan the wrong way when they'd met.

Logan was worried that Rogue was just hanging on to her relationship because she was afraid she wouldn't have the luck of finding someone who was at least willing to try a relationship with her. He hadn't seen a smile on her face since she'd told him her worries about Bobby and Kitty.

Logan stood up from the bench, and walked back toward the mansion. ' _Maybe I'll do another run in the Danger Room_ ,' he thought. The physical exertion and stress release always helped him see things more clearly; it gave him more time to think and let his body do what it did best – what both his mutation and the sinister tinkering of Stryker and the rest of the Weapon X program had designed it to do.

 

* * *

 

Bobby leaned back against the tree, casually slipping an arm over Rogue's shoulders as she nibbled on an Oreo from the package he'd brought with him to finish off their picnic. He was glad Piotr had thought of this. He'd been able to spend nearly an hour already with Rogue and hadn't broken into an argument yet – something extremely rare in recent months.

Rogue leaned her head back onto his shoulder, happy he'd taken the time to set all this up. She'd felt her past concerns over the state of their relationship fade as the afternoon wore on.

Rogue turned her head to look up into his eyes. "Thanks for this, Bobby. Ah really needed t'just spend some time with ya like this."

Bobby nodded, smiling. "I think we both needed this."

Rogue leaned up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, and frowned mentally when she felt his body tense up as her lips pressed against his cheek. ' _Cool down, girl_ ',' she thought to herself, ' _don't start something over nothing and ruin your afternoon. You'd tense up too if you'd had the life sucked out of you the last time you kissed._ '

Bobby carefully placed kissed her back, pressing his lips into her hair. "So how'd your session with the Professor go today? You sounded a little excited about it yesterday."

She bit her lip. "It went alright, same as usual," she found herself saying before she even consciously decided she wouldn't tell him yet what Charles had found.

Bobby turned his head when he heard the sound of a motor roaring to life from the garage in the distance. "Huh, wonder where Logan's headed off to."

Rogue shook her head. "That's not Logan's bike. Sound's like Scott's."

Bobby raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Are you sure? You can tell that from this far away?"

Rogue opened her mouth to reply but was cut off as the noise got louder as the motorcycle moved down the driveway. Rogue pointed down to the lower half of the drive, visible from their spot in the back.

Scott's V-Rod roared down the driveway, and the rider slipped the clutch, and popped it up into a precariously balanced wheelie that lasted out past their line of sight at the gate. Rogue shook her head in amusement when she realized who has been on the bike.

Bobby looked at her. "Was that the Gambit guy Storm's letting stay here?"

Rogue nodded.

"Hm," Bobby grunted, sounding disapproving "Show off."

Rogue slapped him in the side. "Oh, like you don't show off," she said in a teasing tone.

"Yeah yeah yeah." Bobby grumbled and glanced over at her. "I really don't like that guy."

Rogue looked at him quizzically. "Who, Gambit? Why not?"

Bobby shrugged. "I dunno – just a feeling. He just gives me the creeps."

"Bobby, you met him _once_ , and talked to him for like ten seconds."

Bobby shifted uncomfortably against the tree. "I know, and sometimes that's all you need to tell if someone is trustworthy or not. My gut tells me he's bad news. I know Annie pulled you into helping him out because you want to get some experience in nursing and all that, but you don't have to hang around with him."

Rogue's eyes narrowed. "Bobby, first, Annie didn't pull me inta helpin' – Ah wanted to. And second, Ah'm not hanging around with him because of that: Ah've been hanging around him because Ah like him. He's a nice guy, and _mah_ gut doesn't tell me he's bad news."

Bobby held out his hands placatingly. "Rogue, the guy came here with _bullet wounds_. That's hardly what I'd call good news. I just – I just don't think you should hang around him."

Rogue looked at him in shock. "Are you serious? Ah'm not going to go tell him Ah can't be friends with him 'cuz he got shot by someone! Ah like him, an' he's a friend who's willin' ta stay around when he knows 'bout my powers. Ah'm not going to stop being his friend just because ya – ya – you're _jealous_ , aren't ya?" She finished, realizing what his problem with Remy was; the reason behind his behavior down in the medlab and when she'd introduced him to Remy became clear to her.

She laughed, and broke him off before he could start talking. "Ah can't believe because you're jealous of him ya'd try to -" She just shook her head, pulling away completely from Bobby.

"Rogue, please, I'm sorry – I didn't want to try to start a fight with you. I just don't like the guy at all. It's not that I'm jealous – well, okay maybe a little jealous seeing him running his eyes all over you at lunch yesterday – but I also don't trust him. He's hiding something."

"So? What if he is? Ah don't care, and you're just going to have to accept that I want to be his friend." She said, starting to stand up.

Bobby grabbed her hand. "C'mon Rogue, I said I'm sorry. Its fine if you want to be friends with him – I don't like him but I'll accept it. I can't promise I'll be nice to him, but, I'll try to not be a jerk. Please, don't let this ruin our afternoon together."

Rogue wavered between standing and sitting. She finally pulled her hand from Bobby's. "Ah'm sorry Bobby. Ah don't wanna spend the afternoon mad at ya, an' that's all that's gonna happen today. Maybe we should just... maybe we should just try this another time. Ah know ya didn't try to start a fight, but you did, an' Ah think we both need some time ta cool down."

Bobby slowly released her hand, and reluctantly nodded. "I- alright Rogue. You're right. We're just going to end up saying something we don't mean. I'll – you go on, I'll take care of all this stuff." He said, gesturing at the picnic supplies.

Rogue nodded and stood the rest of the way. She tucked her hair behind her ears, and looked down, walking slowly away from him. She blinked away tears that were blurring her vision. She had been words away from breaking up with him, but a mixture of not wanting to do something she might regret without thinking it through first, and a heart-wrenching fear of being alone without someone willing to get close to her stopped her from saying it.

 

* * *

 

As she entered the mansion she ignored Kitty's worried questions when she saw her red-rimmed eyes, and she walked past her friend and past the stares of other students, and up the stairs. She passed Danielle on the stairs, who asked her what was wrong.

"Ah'm alright, Dani. Ah just want some time alone. Ah don't wanna talk to anyone right now."

She strode down the hall and raised her hand to knock on Remy's door when she realized she'd just seen him leave. She let herself sink to the floor, leaning against Remy's door. She rested her forehead on her knees and wiped her eyes with her gloves.

She didn't know how long she sat like that, but she finally heard soft footsteps approaching her, and she heard the person sit down next to her.

"Hey." A voice said, and she finally looked up to see Logan, who had sweat stains on his shirt and looked like he'd just gotten out of the Danger Room. "You alright?" He asked. "Dani told me y'were upset about somethin' an' she was worried 'bout you."

She felt her lower lip tremble slightly. "No." She whispered, shaking her head. "No, Ah'm not alright."

Logan moved his arm to place it around her shoulders, and she leaned back against him against him. "What's up, Darlin'? Did Bobby do somethin'?" He asked her gently.

Rogue nodded. "Ah thought our whole picnic thing was goin' great, an' then all of a sudden Bobby got all jealous an' blew up on me over Re-Gambit," she said, correcting herself. "Bobby basically told me he didn't want me t'be friends with Gambit or even give him the time of day 'cuz he's jealous an' doesn' like him. He claims he's 'bad news'."

Logan tightened his arm around her shoulder. "You know he doesn't have any right t'tell ya who you can be friends with, right? I hope you gave that kid a nice tellin' off."

Rogue managed a small smile. "Ah know. An' Ah did tell him off."

"Good." Logan said, and then looked down at her. "But what else is wrong? If it was just Bobby being a tool, you'd just be givin' him the evil eye all day. But you're up here an' you've been cryin', so somethin' else is botherin' you too."

Rogue closed her eyes as tears threatened again. "Well, Ah found out this mornin' mah mind's all screwed up, an' Ah might not be able t'touch anyone for years." She said bitterly.

"What d'you mean? Where'd you hear that?"

"Th'Professor. He finally figured out what's wrong with me. Ah've got some sort of block in mah mind, an' he thinks it could take up ta ten years b'fore Ah can ever get control of mah powers." She said, swiping away a tear that began to trickle down her cheek.

Logan reached down and nudged her chin until she was looking up at him. "Listen, Chuck's a smart guy. Doesn't mean he's right about everything. Or that he's tellin' the complete truth. Could be he wants you to try to get control on your own – thinks it'd be more healthy for you t'overcome it yourself than him doin' it for you. He told me he couldn't help me get back any more of my memories of my life before Weapon X b'cause if he did it he wasn't sure I could handle it without breakin' mentally, where if I did it it'd come back gradual an' not overwhelmin'."

"D'you think so?" She asked him, looking up into his eyes.

Logan nodded and brushed her hair out of her face. "Yeah, I think so. I can go talk t'him for ya if you want – let him know how this is makin' you feel an' get him t'tell you everything."

Rogue gave him a watery smile. "Would you?"

Logan gave her a lopsided smile and tightened his grip on her. "Sure."

Rogue leaned her head again on his shoulder, and they sat like that for what seemed like an hour to her but was likely only minutes. "You'd make a good dad." She mumbled into his shirt.

Logan looked down at her in surprise, and hid a smile. "Thanks kid. If my kids turned out like you I might be decent, but I'd probably not get that lucky. 'Sides, diapers smell a heck of a lot worse when you've got a nose like mine."

Rogue chuckled. "Ah bet they would."

She looked at him with a serious expression then. "But really Logan, you'd be great. Ah - " she blushed, looking at him with embarrassment evident in her expression. "You're probably gonna laugh, but Ah sorta think of you as dad to me." She said quietly, ducking her eyes to avoid his face.

"I ain't gonna laugh at ya kid. Glad ya feel that way 'cuz I've been thinkin' of you as a daughter. A daughter I didn' hafta change diapers for, which is even better." He cleared his throat. "Sorry, I'm not that good at this kinda emotional stuff."

Rogue turned and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. "That's alright. You said ev'rything you needed to." She whispered.

 

* * *

 

Remy pulled the motorcycle into a spot between two cars along the main street of Salem Center. He'd glanced over the contents of the garage at the mansion and had run his eyes longingly over the Lowrider, but he didn't really feel like pissing Logan off, so the next thing that caught his eye was a shiny, well kept Harley V-Rod, which he'd quickly hotwired and drove off in, hoping the owner wouldn't notice it missing before he got back.

Remy hopped off the bike and strolled along the street, looking at the store fronts. Remy's first stop was at a game store where he immediately picked up three of the best decks of cards he could find.

Back on the street, he wandered along until he finally found a small electronics store selling cell phones. He brushed past several people and glanced around the store. An attractive young blond sat behind the counter, her chin on her hand with a bored look on her face.

He watched her perk up as he walked up to the counter, and she greeted him with a flirtatious smile. "Hi there. Anything I can help you with?"

Remy leaned his elbows on the counter directly across from her and gave her a large grin. "Matter o'fact, _chère_ , dere is. I'd like t'get a phone."

She smiled at him, and waved a hand behind her at the phones displayed behind the counter. "See anything you like?"

" _Oui_ , I see a lot dat I like," He said, smirking when she blushed.

"W-well, we've got this model, it's pretty low end – nice and cheap, but I personally think it works a lot better than some of these more fancy ones." She said, waving her hand across the other phones.

"Well, my _père_ raised me t'realize de lady is always right. So, how much is dat one?"

"With a networking plan it'll be around sixty bucks."

He reached into a pocket and pulled out his SIM card. "Won' be needin' dat. Just want a cheap replacement. Old phone decided it wanted t'see if it could swim."

The girl grinned. "I know how that is. I was in New York once and dropped mine down a sewer drain. Anyway, with just the phone and no networking you're looking at about twenty bucks." She leaned closer to him. "Usually it's thirty, but for you I'll go twenty."

Remy smiled. " _Bien_. I'll take it."

Remy pulled a leather wallet from his pocket and peeled out three ten dollar bills, and placed them in her hand. "Keep de change, _chère_." He grabbed the box containing the phone. "Thanks for y'help."

"No problem. Come back anytime." She called after him, before leaning back on the counter, staring dreamily after him.

As the door swung shut behind Remy, he heard one of the men he'd brushed past as he entered the store ask his companion with concern in his voice: "Hey, where's my wallet?"

Remy bit his the inside of his cheek to hide a smirk as he pulled out the leather wallet he'd used earlier, and removed the rest of the money and slipped it into his pocket before he surreptitiously tossed the wallet in a trashcan along the street.

 _'Wonder what you'd think if you knew you were buying dinner tonight for a bunch of mutants,_ mon ami _,'_ Remy thought as he walked toward what looked to be the only food market in the small town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hope it was enjoyable. Hope you enjoyed the abundance of Logan this chap after his relative scarceness in earlier chapters. I kept the Rogue/Bobby stuff as short as possible so as to not prolong side effects such as nausea, queasiness, and general discomfort ;).
> 
> Oh so close to a breakup there (you didn't think it would be THAT easy did you?), and poor Remy doesn't realize he missed out on comforting SadRogue. Should be a lot of Romy next chapter.
> 
> So, until next time, please leave feedback, and thanks to those who did in previous chapters.


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